Sir, do you want the pheromones? - Chapter 3

 

Pei Xingyu fell silent for half a second, then lowered his eyelashes.

 

“Hiss.” Jin Ran saw his unspoken refusal and, losing his temper, grabbed the meticulously maintained collar of Pei Xingyu’s military uniform and yanked him out of his chair. “Are you getting a divorce or not?”

 

Pei Xingyu’s gaze was indifferent, his voice as cold as if it had been soaked in ice and snow, devoid of emotion. “No.”

 

“What benefits did Jin Shaoyuan give you that you’d rather stay in a loveless marriage?” Jin Ran held him with one hand, his right fist pressed against Pei Xingyu’s emotionless face. “Still not divorcing? Then I’ll beat you until you do.”

 

Pei Xingyu looked at him, not intending to resist, and said calmly, “If you want to fight, do it quickly. Once you’re done, get out.”

 

Jin Ran’s fingers cracked as he squeezed them together and suddenly smiled. “Hey, Commander Pei, you’re not really into me, are you?”

 

Pei Xingyu continued to keep his eyes lowered, making it clear that he didn’t like Jin Ran and wasn’t bothered by his comment. There was no emotional connection between them, so Jin Ran couldn’t understand why he refused to divorce.

 

“Our marriage contract still has three years left. Once the term ends, you will have your freedom. Before then…” Pei Xingyu raised his gaze and looked into Jin Ran’s eyes. “Even if you beat me to death, I won’t go to the marriage management bureau with you.”

 

Jin Ran was so enraged that his chest heaved, and he gritted his teeth. “I’ll see how long you can hold out!” He pushed Pei Xingyu away, who leaned against the crystal desk and furrowed his brow slightly, straightening up and quietly adjusting his collar to smooth out the wrinkled fabric.

 

Jin Ran watched him adjust his collar and frowned. “What did Jin Shaoyuan give you? I’ll give you double if you go be his wife and father for him. Just stop bothering me, alright?”

 

Pei Xingyu paused in his adjustments and continued to smooth out his uniform.

 

Jin Ran was infuriated by Pei Xingyu’s cold indifference and suddenly noticed a photo on the desk. He asked, “Is this your sister?”

 

Pei Xingyu quickly looked up, snatched the photo, and placed it face down on the desk. “If you have any issues, deal with me directly. Don’t touch her.”

 

“You’re so scared of—”

 

Crash!

 

The battleship suddenly shook violently, as if it had been struck.

 

Pei Xingyu staggered a step due to the impact and was steadied by Jin Ran, whose hand landed on Pei Xingyu’s waist, the black-gloved fingers almost blending with his black military uniform.

 

Pei Xingyu was very handsome, with a kind of delicate beauty that seemed out of place for a tough Alpha. His skin was pale, and his lips were light, giving him a cool and stern appearance.

 

The military uniform he wore didn’t look brutal; instead, it added a slender and upright coldness to his demeanor. The belt emphasized his narrow waist and made his long legs appear even more straight and slender.

 

The collar was perfectly aligned, and the uniform shirt had no wrinkles, showing only a sliver of pale skin below his ear.

 

Jin Ran detected a faint orchid scent of Dendrobium, carrying a subtle chill, and stared at him for a few seconds.

 

Pei Xingyu reacted quickly, straightened up, and asked the mechanical assistant, who was idly acting like a vacuum cleaner, “Duyuan, report the cause of the disturbance.”

 

“Unknown object is attacking the outer defenses of the mothership. The cause of the disturbance is being detected.”

 

Object?

 

The term seemed odd.

 

“Retrieve external defense network images.” Pei Xingyu swiped his hand, and a holographic image of the external defense network appeared on the desk.

 

The so-called “unknown object” on the image wasn’t really an object but looked like a phoenix wing engulfed in blazing fire, with a brilliant white light amidst the flames, resembling a crystal surrounded by fire, dragging an extremely long tail feather.

 

It crashed aimlessly, trying to break through and get inside, causing the defense network to sound a heart-wrenching alarm.

 

The next moment, the light burst into flames and disappeared instantly.

 

Pei Xingyu’s pupils contracted sharply as he looked at the suddenly vanished “unknown object.”

 

The “Ziwei Yuan” was located in the central North Sky, surrounded by seventeen small asteroids, with three defensive ships and nine jump monitoring towers. Even he could feel the vibrations; was the defense network made of paper?

 

This thing could bypass the external defense network and jump monitoring towers, directly impacting the mothership. An attack strong enough to make the mothership vibrate would typically involve heavy weaponry or an ultra-powered mech equipped with space-based laser weapons.

 

Jin Ran clicked his tongue. “Is your defense network made of spider webs? It got destroyed so easily. I think you should resign as commander while you can.”

 

Pei Xingyu was taken aback, realizing Jin Ran was still standing a step behind him. “Why haven’t you left?”

 

Jin Ran sneered, intending to leave, but after being called out, he suddenly sat on the edge of the crystal desk, extending his gloved fingers to tap on the virtual image of the desk. The image switched from the external defense network to an interstellar space map.

 

“From the looks of your Ziwei Yuan’s defenses, it seems well-protected with seventeen small asteroids, three defensive ships, and nine jump monitoring towers. But actually, here, here… and here.”

 

“If they shut down the monitoring towers for even one second, Ziwei Yuan would be surrounded from all sides, and before you can even send a distress signal to the Interstellar Federation, there will be nothing left.”

 

Pei Xingyu pondered for a moment. He understood this better than anyone and had considered countless countermeasures.

 

The location of Ziwei Yuan wasn’t his choice. The “K7” semi-project was initially located here. After he took over, he tried to make changes, but his direct superior, the Combat Minister of the Seventeen Corps, Zhou Huaimao, repeatedly rejected the proposal and ordered that the Ziwei Yuan mothership not be moved lightly.

 

Pei Xingyu was about to speak when he suddenly froze. “How do you know so much about Ziwei Yuan?”

 

Jin Ran was about to say that he had seen the interstellar navigation map in the ecological cabin and couldn’t sleep when he first arrived at Ziwei Yuan, but seeing Pei Xingyu’s face, he suddenly reached out and grabbed his waist, pulling him close. “As your child groom, isn’t it normal for me to care about your Ziwei Yuan?”

 

Pei Xingyu frowned and tried to pull away from his grasp. “I’m your commanding officer now; show some respect!”

 

Jin Ran smirked and sneered. “Then if you divorce me, I’ll respect you. Otherwise, don’t talk about rank. How can you be a commanding officer with a marital relationship? What kind of interest is that?”

 

Pei Xingyu stood straight, his recently smoothed collar again disheveled, adding a hint of humiliation. However, his expression remained unchanged, with a coldness evident in his eyes and brows.

 

Jin Ran, standing close, detected a faint scent of Dendrobium and deliberately leaned his head to sniff near Pei Xingyu’s neck. His hot breath brushed against the thin skin, warming the veins. “Commander, are you really willing to let another Alpha…”

 

“Jin Ran!” Pei Xingyu turned his head and pushed him away, his eyes trembling slightly with anger.

 

Jin Ran opened his eyes and laughed fearlessly. “Hmm?”

 

Pei Xingyu suppressed the urge to beat him up, trying to calm his mood and shift the topic. He moved to the other side of the crystal desk, tapped his fingers, and asked, “If it were you, what would you do?”

 

Jin Ran swiped on the screen and said, “Kill all the people manning the defensive monitoring towers and replace them with our own people. If there’s no suitable person, even robots are better than these people.”

 

Pei Xingyu’s expression changed drastically.

 

Jin Ran changed his hand gesture, not feeling his suggestion was crazy at all. He shrugged and continued, “If you don’t want to kill anyone, set up a layer of mental defense net in front of the monitoring towers, connect it with a mental control cruise ship, and also set up a warning network at the jump points.”

 

Pei Xingyu, hearing him refer to “your Ziwei Yuan” repeatedly, knew that Jin Ran’s purpose was probably just for the divorce and had no intention of staying longer. To him, this little lunatic probably saw responsibilities and human civilization as less important than a hovering car parked by the roadside.

 

“These are for show. Secretly use the mental net to create a false interstellar route and jump points. The fortress’s defensive deployment is fixed and not easily changed, but the backup energy reserves can be adjusted. Keep some armed forces in reserve; even if you can’t annihilate them in one go, you won’t let them treat Ziwei Yuan like a cradle. You should at least be able to determine where they came from.”

 

Duyuan issued a warning, “Beep! Unauthorized modification of the mental net and jump points is a violation.”

 

Jin Ran glanced at the “sweeping robot,” kicked it lightly, and retracted his foot before Pei Xingyu could see.

 

Duyuan’s warning sound was suppressed into a notification tone, “Destroyer fleet commander Lin Kai-sui requests a call.”

 

Pei Xingyu turned to Jin Ran and said, “You should leave now. In the future, stay away from the command ship.”

 

Jin Ran stood up from the crystal desk and turned to leave but was called back by Pei Xingyu. Without waiting for him to turn around, Pei Xingyu said, “Don’t mention our marital relationship to anyone, or it will be dealt with under military law.”

 

Jin Ran sneered, “Do you think I want people to know you’re my wife?”

 

“That’s best,” Pei Xingyu said as he turned around, maintaining an impassive expression. “Duyuan, connect the call.”

 

Lin Kai-sui, piloting a small fighter jet, looked straight at the virtual image of the commander through his visor. “Commander Pei, no residual unidentified matter was found in interstellar space!”

 

Pei Xingyu clenched his fist unconsciously against his lips. The unidentified object attacked the Ziwei Yuan mothership; even if it had burned out, it should have left “ashes.” Even an interstellar storm wouldn’t disperse it so quickly.

 

Could it really be ice?

 

Pei Xingyu was startled by his own wild speculation and said, “Duyuan, request to check if there are any unidentified object jump records at the jump points.”

 

Duyuan’s blue light illuminated in the cold, white space capsule, looking a bit glaring. Pei Xingyu waited patiently, and Duyuan reported, “No jump records at the jump points.”

 

Pei Xingyu tapped the interstellar route map and suddenly remembered Jin Ran’s words that Duyuan called “violations.”

 

The seventeen small asteroids couldn’t have shown him a sound wave report.

 

Although Ziwei Yuan is surrounded by seventeen small asteroids for “protection,” it’s actually blatant surveillance. The Interstellar Federation is so afraid of him defecting that they even vetoed modifications to combat unit locations.

 

Duyuan organized the Ziwei Yuan’s monitoring tower data and projected it at Pei Xingyu’s eye level. A second later, a chip prompt sounded, “Squadron Commander Meng Ruqian requests entry into the space capsule. Should we allow it?”

 

Pei Xingyu’s gaze did not shift, and he answered casually, “Allow it.”

 

Meng Ruqian rolled in like a spinning top. Before Pei Xingyu could speak, he tapped a few times on his wristwatch, and the projection appeared beside the monitoring tower data.

 

“Commander, the mecha sent by the 11th Legion during the mothership’s fluctuation created a fan-shaped resonance. This is the data capture from that moment,” Meng Ruqian said, covering his still buzzing ears and gritting his teeth. “It’s like a ghost howling; my head is about to explode. What on earth is it?”

 

Pei Xingyu looked at the data.

 

Meng Ruqian asked, “Where did the 11th Legion get such an antique mecha? It must be several hundred years old. How can it still create such a large resonance?”

 

Pei Xingyu pondered. This mecha was not sent by the 11th Legion’s Commander Lian Jinfeng personally but was reported to the Interstellar Federation and then handed over by the Federation.

 

“I knew that old Lian Jinfeng wouldn’t have good intentions, sending us a mecha to analyze the data for no reason.” Meng Ruqian rubbed his ears and said through gritted teeth. Seeing Pei Xingyu didn’t respond, he asked, “Commander, what should we do now? Should we send it back?”

 

“Keep it for now,” Pei Xingyu said, vaguely pointing at the pile of data. “The data from the other monitoring towers is still being sorted. I will request the Interstellar Federation to obtain the sound wave data from the seventeen asteroids. Continue to decode the mecha data and ensure safety.”

 

Meng Ruqian nodded, rubbed his ears, and walked a few steps before suddenly turning back.

 

“Commander.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“When I came in, I saw Jin Ran leaving from here.”