CH 42

Ch42 - Battlefield (Part 2)

CW: Dubcon kissing, violence

Shao Ci had thought that the system had gotten more restrained recently. He didn’t expect that it had been brewing up a big move! It even issued a task like this at such a time. Shao Ci suspected that it had an ulterior motive… No, there was no need to suspect. This system had dedicated itself to fostering gays.

If he didn’t finish up this damn task now, it would be even harder to do it tomorrow when everyone was moving together. Shao Ci absolutely couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he forced a kiss on one of the three men.

But it wouldn’t be very good if he forced a kiss on Edwin now. Edwin would certainly think of him as gay, and with his personality, there was an 80 or 90 percent chance that he would give himself over to Shao Ci… The scene was too stunning for Shao Ci to have the nerve to keep imagining it.

The only method was to take the chance to complete his task when Edwin was sleeping. That way, nobody could see him, and Shao Ci would be fine, Edwin would be fine, and everybody would be fine.

Shao Ci relaxed, sitting back to wait at the fireside.

Soon, it was time. Ji Zhaoyun came out from the tent with dark undereye circles, fixing his eyes straight on Shao Ci and Edwin. He didn’t relax until he saw that they weren’t even sitting very close to each other.

Ji Zhaoyun didn’t sleep at all in the lat two hours. Instead, he had been thinking up all kinds of possibilities, worrying that Edwin would take the chance to seduce Shao Ci outside… Exactly. At that moment, in Ji Zhaoyun’s mind, Edwin had already become the mistress trying to wedge between him and Shao Ci.

On the other hand, Pei Shijian had a good sleep and woke up well-rested, as though he didn’t care about whatever problems there were between the other three people.

“Well, we’ll go and rest now.” Shao Ci stumbled towards the tent, practically falling asleep on his feet. He could barely keep his eyes open.

Shao Ci had to admit that Ji Zhaoyun knew how to treat himself well. The tent was well-soundproofed, and as soon as he walked inside, all the noise outside was silenced. There was a mat on the ground made of some kind of unknown material, and it was extremely comfortable. It was almost like he had gone back to his own room… No, his own room wasn’t even as comfortable.

But Edwin sat down at a spot closest to the outside. He was extremely vigilant, looking as though he wasn’t planning to sleep.

If Edwin didn’t sleep, how was he supposed to complete his task! Shao Ci hurriedly said, “It’s already so late, you should come rest too. We’ll still have to keep watch in another two hours.”

“How could I sleep by your side?” Edwin said quickly. “I’m alright just sitting here. I don’t trust the others. At a dangerous time like this, I should be here to protect you.”

Shao Ci said, “…You don’t need to think so much, at least for now. You should come and rest.”

Edwin: “But I…”

“You already worked hard during the daytime, didn’t you? If you don’t sleep at night, how will you manage to keep going?” Shao Ci racked his brains for an excuse. “If you don’t rest now, you’ll have even less energy tomorrow. Even if you’re an alpha, you’re not made of stone, right?”

Edwin thought the same. “I suppose you’re right. Please excuse the offense.” With a little embarrassment, he sat down by Shao Ci’s side, laying down.

They were close to each other, so close that Edwin unconsciously slowed his breathing and pressed his hands unconsciously to his chest, afraid that Shao Ci would hear his rapid heartbeat.

If Shao Ci didn’t have a task to do, he would have fallen asleep in ten seconds. Now, in order to complete his task, he had no choice but to keep himself lively and keep a constant eye on Edwin.

When he noticed that Edwin was pretty much asleep, Shao Ci sat up, soundlessly inching towards Edwin’s side.

Edwin was sleeping peacefully, his soft blonde hair mussed. In his sleep, his expression was cool and his features looked as though they had been carved by a master sculptor.

When Shao Ci firs met him, he couldn’t imagine that there would ever be a day that Edwin would stay by his side with such an attitude.

“Sorry… I…” Shao Ci felt a hint of guilt. He sighed, reaching out to brush Edwin’s hair away. He bent over, aiming his pale lips for a kiss.

In his  nervousness, Shao Ci didn’t notice that Edwin, who should have been in deep sleep, had his hands clenched, and his ears had turned unnaturally flushed.

Exactly. Edwin wasn’t asleep. How could he fall peacefully into slumber when he was next to Shao Ci? When Shao Ci leaned in sneakily, he thought that Shao Ci was about to do something and he got nervous. He didn’t expect that Shao Ci would actually kiss him.

Edwin’s heart pounded. He had never thought he would get so close to Shao Ci. He was happy as long as he was by Shao Ci’s side. Although he would occasionally have thoughts about getting closer to Shao Ci, he had never thought of something like this.

Rather than saying that he didn’t want to think about it, he didn’t have the nerve to think about it. Edwin had placed Shao Ci on a pedestal in his mind. It would only blaspheme Shao Ci if he was together with Edwin.

Just as their lips touched, the system’s task completion notification went off. At the same time, the tent was suddenly flung open.

Ji Zhaoyun, who had found an excuse to come because he wasn’t at ease, saw the kiss as soon as he looked in.

The tent tore with a sharp sound. Ji Zhaoyun almost couldn’t believe his eyes. He clutched a piece of the ripped tent in a death grip.

Shao Ci whipped his head up to look over in shock. “?!”

Fuck, what kind of drama was this, huh! Why did this storyline, where he got caught trying to steal a kiss, feature the three of them, who didn’t have any feelings above friendship?

He might as well just say that they didn’t even have friendship.

Luckily, Ji Zhaoyun didn’t have any romantic intentions towards him. Shao Ci thought for a moment. He could only use gay methods to muddle his way through (besides, it was very normal for betas to like alphas in this world!). Although it was humiliating, it was better than being a pervert who attacked in secret.

“…I didn’t expect you to spot me.” Shao Ci was alarmed, then said, “Um, actually—actually, the person I’ve always liked is…”

“Stop.” Ji Zhaoyun cut Shao Ci off.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Shao Ci: “Huh?” Was there some reason he couldn’t say it?

“Lbk mbeiv sbe… Lbk mbeiv sbe yf ilxf atlr?” Al Itjbsec’r fzqgfrrlbc kjr lcmgfvlyis euis. Lf ragbvf bnfg, ugjyylcu Vtjb Jl’r tjcv. “Cgfc’a P atf bcf sbe ilxf? Lbk mbeiv sbe vb rbwfatlcu ilxf atlr klat rbwfbcf firf? Tbe fnfc kjca ab ags jcv mbcofrr ab rbwfbcf firf gluta lc ogbca bo wf.”

Shao Ci: “Huh???”

Wait, at some point in time Ji Zhaoyun had dreamt up something crazy?

“No… Have you made some mistake…?” Shao Ci fumbled with his words.

“A mistake?” Ji Zhaoyun was nearly exploding in anger. He gritted his teeth. “Fine then, tell me, if it’s a mistake, if you don’t like me, then why would you kiss me?”

Shao Ci: “Huh? T-that was actually because…” Why was something that should have already passed soundlessly coming back out for interrogation?

He had already forgotten this dark past. He didn’t expect that Ji Zhaoyun would still remember.

“Actually, I lost my sense of reason after being whipped, so that’s why I did something like that.” Shao Ci finally thought of an excuse. “I’m really sorry…” Still, Ji Zhaoyun had already retaliated, though it was with that kind of method.

“What do you mean? You want to deny the things you did yourself? You just seduced me to throw me away… Yes, you just want to toy with me, don’t you?” Ji Zhaoyun gritted his teeth. “You want to retaliate against me because of how I treated you at first.”

He was just getting a few lashings at the beginning, it didn’t have anything to do with seduction! Did he not understand ABO worldviews or something?!

Shao Ci felt that his and Ji Zhaoyun’s understanding had deviated at some point. “No, I don’t mean anything like that, if I wanted to get revenge against you, I would have done it ages ago. Besides, don’t you like Prince La—ahem…”

Ji Zhaoyun looked furious. He pressed Shao Ci down under him, lowering his head, and pressing towards Shao Ci’s lips.

Shao Ci: “!!?”

At that moment, Shao Ci was stupefied. How in the world did things turn out like this? These shocking lines were something that would only appear in an overdramatic soap opera. Why did someone who had zero favorability towards him do something so absolutely terrifying after catching him kissing another person?!

He must be dreaming… If Ji Zhaoyun was like this when he didn’t look down on betas, why didn’t he just go and pretend that he was a gay who liked alphas!

Ji Zhaoyun raised his head, looking much calmer, but his eyes were unusually serene . He reached out to cup Shao Ci’s face. He spoke as though he was asking Shao Ci, but in fact it was to comfort himself. “I know that you actually like me. In the past, we were just at odds with each other. The things you did with Edwin were also just to provoke me. It’s fine… I can understand it all.”

Shao Ci: “…You know my real identity?” This was the only possibility.

“Yes. I’ve known for a long time,” Ji Zhaoyun said. “Nothing you said to me before was random, right? When you said you wanted me to enter the mecha competition, it was just to encourage me, am I right?”

Ji Zhaoyun’s tone didn’t sound like he was asking a question. It sounded like a forceful statement.

Shao Ci: “…Y-yes.” If Shao Ci said that he was actually fooling him, Ji Zhaoyun would definitely beat him to death.

Still, it was hard to figure out how exactly Ji Zhaoyun thought. It was simply unrealistic that he had known about this and kept it hidden for so long.

“I knew it… You did it all for me. It’s fine. I won’t be mad,” Ji Zhaoyun smiled slightly, leaning down to hug Shao Ci.

But Shao Ci was nearly shocked out of his skin by the way Ji Zhaoyun treated him so well.

Ji Zhaoyun look at the space at the side, his voice cold. “Alright, now a certain someone can stop faking sleep, can’t they?”

Next to them, Edwin jerked into a sitting position, his deep blue eyes cold enough to freeze over. He gazed back at Ji Zhaoyun with a death stare.

Shao Ci: “You’re awake?” Wait, faking sleep? Was Edwin not asleep just now? Shao Ci suddenly felt like he couldn’t live to the next day.

“Yes,” Edwin said, “I’m awake, and I know what you have done.”

“…” Shao Ci was ready to choke on his blood. “Nonono, it’s not what you think… Actually, it’s…”

“I don’t mind,” Edwin said. “I just want to know why exactly you acted like this… I can accept it regardless of your reason.”

“What reason do you still need?” Ji Zhaoyun snorted. “Wasn’t he just toying with you a bit?”

“You…” Edwin looked at Ji Zhaoyun, gritting his teeth. He couldn’t control the gloom he was feeling, and he aimed at Ji Zhaoyun’s face with a swing of his fist.

Ji Zhaoyun didn’t expect him to lash out. The attack sent him crashing to the ground. He coughed, covering the swelling red mark on his cheek. He looked towards Edwin with a smirk. “I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I? It looks like you know a bit about yourself. In this case, why don’t you just take the chance to step out early?”

“Watch your mouth.” Edwin looked at Ji Zhaoyun coldly. “Everything was said under thread. I really have no idea where you’re getting the courage to gloat.”

“Hmph. So what if I gloat?” Ji Zhaoyun looked at Edwin with fury. “You bastard. You act so lofty on the surface, but behind you shamelessly seduce someone else’s partner in secret? Do you think that you’re so great because you’re the crown prince’s cousin?”

“What did you say?” Edwin sneered. “You know for yourself what exactly happened. I’m sure you’re also very clear about who’s the shameless person using threats.”

Shao Ci, who was still laying on the ground: “???” Huh, wait, why were these people suddenly catfighting? And Ji Zhaoyun’s lines were really too awful.

Forget it. With these kind of circumstances, saving himself was probably more important.

Shao Ci scurried towards a safe spot. When he was hiding behind the trees, he saw that the two of them had already got their weapons ready to begin to fight. Each and every blow was aimed to kill.

It was lucky that the competition had said they couldn’t bring mechas. Otherwise, if they had brought out their mechas to fight… then this would stir up the entire institute—no, even more than the entire institute. It would stir up the five major military institutes.

Just as the fight was growing intense, a hand suddenly set itself on Shao Ci’s shoulder, and a voice rang out. “Don’t you think that rather than paying attention to other people right now, you should pay a bit more attention to your surroundings?”

Shao Ci whipped his head back around and saw Pei Shijian with a face full of a smile. His heart stuttered.

Pei Shijian said, “I really didn’t expect that a beta would manage to get those two to reach this stage. Still, everything is going to end now.”

Shao Ci said hastily, “Wait, if I die, won’t you fail the assignment?! DIdn’t you want to get first place in the competition?”

“You’re right. In this case, I’m in a bit of a tight spot,” Pei Shijian said. “Still, the rules said that if one party forfeits, then the other person loses their opportunity, but they don’t say anything about what happens when one party dies, hmm?”

Fuck, this goes too?!

Shao Ci unconsciously stepped back, but suddenly he stepped into the air, and his body fell backwards.

Was there a slope here before? Shao Ci couldn’t remember. After all, Ji Zhaoyun had carried him the entire way. He didn’t notice any of the surrounding terrain at all.

In his moment of peril, Shao Ci suddenly grabbed onto Pei Shijian’s clothing, but he didn’t expect that Pei Shijian didn’t have a steady stance either, and both of them fell.

The slope was incredibly steep, and the two of them went tumbling down. Shao Ci only felt that his entire body ached, he was sprawled completely on the ground and unable to move.

On the other hand, Pei Shijian was alright. After he dusted himself off, he looked perfectly normal. After all, he was an alpha, and his physique was significantly better than Shao Ci’s.

“I didn’t expect that you would be so calculating, but I underestimated you. This is a great place to kill someone, and there’s no need to worry about being found out, don’t you think?” Pei Shijian looked at Shao Ci with an eyebrow raised, He had a smile on his face, like he was certain that Shao Ci had no way to escape. He strolled over at an extremely relaxed pace.

Shao Ci, sprawled out on the ground, quickly used his healing ability to heal himself. Luckily the system’s cheat really was strong. In moments, it healed the injuries in moments. At the same time, he played dead so Pei Shijian wouldn’t notice anything.

“You really are an eyesore.” Pei Shijian walked in front of Shao Ci, taking out a dagger and using the other to prop up his cheek. He said softly, “I can still remember your arrogant expression from the first time I met you in the institute as clear as day. Back then, you spoke like I couldn’t hold my head high in public because I came from the slums. I really miss it.”

Shao Ci: “…” Actually, he wasn’t the one who did that, ahhh!

“The people who mocked me back then already learned their place and left the school. You’re the only one who’s been hobbling around in front of me.” Pei Shijian sneered. “The ghost truly does linger. If it wasn’t for the fact that I wasn’t able to kill you, I wouldn’t let you live until now.”

Shao Ci: “!” He didn’t want to stay in the institute and keep bumping into Pei Shijian! The fright was wrecking his emotions, okay!

But with the current circumstances, he had no choice. Shao Ci gritted his teeth. “Do you still not know my feelings? In fact, when I first taunted you, it wasn’t because I looked down on you. It was to attract your attention!”

He was basically powerwashing himself clean. Shao Ci was just throwing words out. The chance of success should be close to zero.

“Shut up.” Pei Shijian’s expression sank. He thrust the dagger into Shao Ci’s wrist, pinning his hands to the ground.

Shao Ci’s forehead beaded with cold sweat, but with the system’s pain blocker, the pain was about the same level as being bitten by a kitten or a puppy, and didn’t hurt too much.

“Are you joking? Do you think I’ll believe you?” Pei Shijian said. “Ever since you won against me, there was no chance I would let you live in this world.”

Dammit, if you have the guts then go kill everyone who wins against you!

Shao Ci was ready to die from his anger, but he thought about how the original Pei Shijian seemed to have really killed the brats who had won against him when he was young and in the welfare institution… He really was a cruel person you couldn’t cross, but what could Shao Ci do if he had already crossed him!

“Where should I go for?” Pei Shijian wrenched the dagger back out, looking at Shao Ci with a slight smile. “If I kill you so easily, it would be too easy, wouldn’t it?”

Shao Ci’s hand shrank back, afraid that Pei Shijian would go crazy and stab him a few more times.

“Since we’re already at this point, then I’ll cripple your limbs first, then give you half an hour to run for your life. What do you think?” Pei Shijian said uncaringly. “If you can escape, then I’ll let you live.”

Shao Ci’s expression turned ugly. “No…”

This was just a damn villain in a horror movie! He had actually thought of something so disgusting. Shao Ci knew that Pei Shijian was a male lead who would seek revenge for a single look, but he didn’t expect him to be so twisted.

“Yes, that’s good. I bet that you’re happy to die this way, aren’t you?” Pei Shijian said, grabbing Shao Ci’s other hand with even more strength and stabbing down at Shao Ci’s wrist.

That was the right moment!

Shao Ci took a deep breath, letting his spiritual energy surge towards Pei Shijian.

After being attacked by the spiritual energy, Pei Shijian fell into a daze.

That was his chance! Shao Ci suddenly sat up, pushing Pei Shijian down and and wresting away the dagger in his hand.

When Pei Shijian reacted, he looked at Shao Ci in shock. “You have such strong spiritual energy?”

Ever since he was born, Pei Shijian had never met someone with stronger spiritual energy than him. After he achieved SSS-rank spiritual energy on the assessment, he finally realized that his spiritual energy might be the strongest in the empire. But now there was someone stronger than him… And that someone was Shao Ci, who had always performed poorly.

“Right, so what? You should be worrying about yourself.” Shao Ci threw Pei Shijian’s own words back at him.

Just now, Shao Ci’s spiritual energy had rushed over Pei Shijian’s spiritual energy, stifling it in moments and making him unable to move. He was as pathetic as he had been arrogant, but Pei Shijian still chuckled and said, “Since I wasn’t skilled enough, then you can deal with me however you want. Don’t use something useless like a fist. Why don’t you use the knife you’re holding?”

“…” Shao Ci sank into silence.

“You can’t do it, can you?” Pei Shijian spoke as though he knew Shao Ci wouldn’t do anything to him. “After all, you’re just an ordinary person, so ordinary it’s sickening. There are enough people like you on this planet. It doesn’t matter how many of you die.”

“How do you know I won’t do anything?” Shao Ci lifted his wrist. In moments, the cut that Pei Shijian’s dagger had dug in his arm healed, but the mental trauma Pei Shijian caused wouldn’t heal so easily.

Although he wouldn’t be able to complete his task if he killed Pei Shijian, would it be fine as long as Shao Ci killed him?

Shao Ci looked at Pei Shijian’s long fingers, his mind unnaturally calm. Coolly, he said, “Your hands are quite elegant.” Then, without the slightest hesitation, he stabbed the dagger deep into Pei Shijian’s hand, splattering blood everywhere.

Shao Ci didn’t expect anything too scary. He just wanted to do as Pei Shijian said, that’s all. Pei Shijian could experience what he said for himself. He should be quite happy.

“Ngh…!” Pei Shijian had to grit his teeth before he could endure the pain. He didn’t have the same pain blocker cheat as Shao Ci, but he forced a mocking smile onto his face. “Just this little bit? This isn’t nearly enough for me.”

“It’s just what you said. There’s still your other hand, or…” Despite his hesitance in the beginning, when Shao Ci saw Pei Shijian’s face, his hesitance mostly disappeared.

Again, he stabbed deeply into the other wrist. Pei Shijian immediately groaned, cold sweat dripping from his face. He panted heavily, but he still provoked Shao Ci. “You want to torture me with something like this?”

Shao Ci would see things through to the end. Pei Shijian was ready to kill him anyways. It was no use no matter how he tried to suck up. He might as well take the chance to vent his anger… Although he would be trading his future peace.

But he had already caused Edwin and Ji Zhaoyun to fight. Shao Ci felt that he probably had no destiny with the word “peace”.

After a few rounds of suffering, Pei Shijian’s clothes looked like he had been scooped out of the water. There were bloodstains all over, and he was almost passed out where he was laying.

Shao Ci could get tired out from just using spiritual energy alone. Now that he had tortured Pei Shijian, he was even more exhausted. He wished he could crawl into bed, but if he went to sleep in front of Pei Shijian he would definitely wake up to something terrifying.

What was scarier was that Shao Ci’s body was suddenly turning hot… Fuck, he suddenly realized that the terrifying heat had come again!

But his heat suppressant medication was still in the tent. He didn’t know if Edwin and Ji Zhaoyun’s fight had destroyed the medicine at the tent either… But even if it wasn’t destroyed, there was nothing he could do. With his condition, there was no way he could go back and get it.

Why did all the messes come in together? This was indeed the fate of a cannon fodder.

Shao Ci lowered his head to look at the unconscious Pei Shijian. He gritted his teeth, searching for somewhere close by. He knew not to stay close by an alpha during his heat. He would just let this Pei Shijian fellow off this time. As for heat or whatever, it should pass if he endured a bit. He would go back at dawn.

Shao Ci staggered to his feet, struggling towards a more concealed location. The better locations were all full of all kinds of trees. He thought to himself, If I meet some kind of alien beast, I’m done for.

Then, as if the world had abandoned him after he beat up the original protagonist, an alien beast suddenly scurried out from the side.

It was a giant insect that was the height of a man. It looked terrifying enough that it could act as a villain in a horror movie without the slightest photoshop. Of course, it still fell a bit short of being the final boss.

Shao Ci: “!” Fuck, did you have to come so quickly? Didn’t he just beat up the original protagonist! Fine, beating up the original protagonist was pretty serious.

Some time had already passed since he used his spiritual energy… But if he used it now, his body might not be able to hold on.

Shao Ci gritted his teeth, wanting to use his spiritual energy as the only weapon he had, but because his energy had been exhausted, he collapsed toe the ground. Naturally, his spiritual energy didn’t exert itself either.

At that moment, the large insect walked closer again. Shao Ci could practically see the insect’s pincers. His heart pounded. Was he going to get his lunchbox like this!

Just as his life was hanging by a thread, the large insect hesitated, then quickly retreated several steps. Finally, as though it had encountered its natural enemy, it fled speedily.

Shao Ci let out a breath of relief. Wait, this wasn’t the time to sigh in relief! He did his utmost to sit upright and look over, and he spotted a head with blonde hair and blue eyes in the distance. It was a teenager with a friendly smile.

“What a coincidence… We meet again.” The youth greeted him cheerily.

Shao Ci was stunned. “Thank you so much for this… I-it really is a coincidence. I didn’t expect that you would remember me.” Wasn’t this guy the Zerg! No wonder this large insect was scared off! It had probably scented the Zerg’s pheromones. Still, why did it happen right at such a time…

“Of course I remember you.” The teenager walked over to him slowly, extending a hand to lift his chin. “After all, you were the one who saved me on the airship. I could never forget my savior.”

Shao Ci was way more than a savior. He was also the guy who worked him up into a heat and ran away.

Shao Ci felt like the way he managed to avoid getting beaten up was lucky enough to win the lottery. “…”

He had completely miscalculated. Sure enough, if they weren’t noticed, Zerg could blend into other living beings. They could distinguish other people by scent alone.

It seemed like meeting this youth here wasn’t an accident. The other party had followed his scent to seek him out.

Shao Ci couldn’t expose that he knew the other person was a Zerg, or he would be silenced.

“Your body is so hot. It looks like you’re not doing too well,” the youth said, noticing the other parts of Shao Ci. “Your clothes are all torn, and your skin is exposed… By the way, you came alone, too. Something must have happened, right?”

Shao Ci hurriedly said, “It’s nothing, I’m fine. I just lost contact with my teammate when I ran into that alien beast just now. I just need to rest for a moment and I’ll be fine.”

He shouldn’t mention the enmity between him and Pei Shijian. Besides, he didn’t need anyone else to help him right now. What would he do if they discovered he was an omega?

“Also, I was wondering about this ever since earlier. Why do you smell like an omega’s pheromones?”