And so they returned to the institute. Because of what happened with Pei Shijian, everyone in the institute was in low spirits. If it wasnât for the fact that they couldnât be sure if Pei Shijian was dead or alive, everyone might have arranged a memorial for him.
Shao Ci naturally didnât have the nerve to go to Ji Zhaoyunâs house again⌠He had a feeling that if he went something bad would happen. Anyway, he didnât have much luggage to pack, so he decided to just move to a dorm rented from the institute.
There were several cheap dorms, but most of them were designed for several people. All the singles were in the high-rise. He felt that if his omega pheromones spread out, he would stir up an entire building of alphas in minutes. The scene was too gory for Shao Ci to imagine.
After they came back to the institute, Ji Zhaoyun never came back to school. It was rumored that Ji Zhaoyun had especially gone to seek out his father for the sake of the finals. He had his father use his influence to invite a retired general to teach him. He trained from dawn to dusk with no time to spare. He spent his days in incredible hardship.
Shao Ci had thought that Ji Zhaoyun, someone born in a dukeâs family just needed to enjoy their comfortable life. After all, the one inheriting the dukeâs title was Ji Zhaoyunâs brother, so Ji Zhaoyun just needed to enjoy himself. In the last dozen years, that was just what he did. Nobody had ever counted on him to do anything.
But now that Ji Zhaoyun was suddenly working so hard, the duke and duchess were given a shock. They were even worried that their son might have been possessed.
Shao Ci knew that in the original novel Ji Zhaoyun had become very powerful in the later parts of the novel, but they were currently in the middle of the novel at latest. Even if he improved, he probably couldnât make it to the finals of the mecha competition right awayâŚ
When Edwin found out that Shao Ci was thinking of looking for a dorm, he immediately offered to let him move to his own residence.
Shao Ci didnât really want to think too much to begin with, but when he considered how he didnât know when he would go into heat it would be a hassle, it would save him some trouble to have someone with him⌠Besides, Edwinâs residence was huge. He didnât need to worry about his omega pheromones drawing people over.
Shao Ci had completely forgotten that Edwin was also an alpha⌠It was all because his impression of Edwin as a loyal dog had been engraved deep in his heart.
When Edwin found out that Shao Ci had been using a helmet to login to the virtual world, he was ready to faint in anger.
A helmet couldnât completely send someoneâs consciousness into the virtual world. Although it didnât feel too different in use, there were subtle aspects that would be affected. All of the contestants participating in the competition were using nutrient cabins.
On the other hand, using a nutrient cabin could greatly reduce the amount of stress on the body. For someone like Shao Ci, who had an especially weak constitution, he would be able to stay online for a few more hours if he used the nutrient cabin, and he wouldnât be as exhausted as if he had used a helmet after he came out. Instead, he would feel very comfortable.
Edwin immediately purchased the latest model of nutrition cabin for Shao Ci. In his opinion, it was criminal that Ji Zhaoyun couldnât bring out Shao Ciâs full power. He regretted not hitting Ji Zhaoyun harder when he had the chance.
At first, Shao Ci thought Edwin was exaggerating, but when he used the nutrient cabin, he was stunned by the speed and smoothness at which he entered the virtual world. His body felt much lighter, and the scenery before his eyes was crisper. It was as though he was a character in a cultivation novel who had had succeeded in building his foundation.
In comparison, Shao Ci felt like his past self was like a lousy computer that refreshed at a rate of one frame per second⌠Before switching, he was used to the feeling of the virtual net helmet, but now that he had switched, he discovered that it simply wasnât a way to live.
At the same time, because of what happened with Pei Shijian, other people were getting more and more worked up. There were even people who cursed Shao Ci, saying that there was no way Pei Shijian would have disappeared if it wasnât for the fact that Pei Shijian was paired with such a weak partner. They got angrier and angrier, even demanding for Shao Ci to be expelled.
But with Edwin there, their goal had no hope of succeeding.
Edwin didnât want to tell Shao Ci, but when he thought about how serious the problem was, he decided to tell him after all. He advised Shao Ci not to go out. If there was anything he needed, he could come looking for Edwin.
Shao Ci hated being a bother. When he imagined the terrifying scene of himself being surrounded by Pei Shijianâs fans, he immediately gave up on the idea of going outsideâŚ
Everyone else thought that Shao Ci was innocent and that he had only gotten paired up with Pei Shijian and encountered such an event⌠But Shao Ci was very clear that there was a strong correlation between the current situation and how he had poked a few stabs into Pei Shijian â_â
Because Shao Ci couldnât out and he couldnât go to class, Edwin decided he might as well not go to class either. He brought over a textbook, giving Shao Ci special one-on-one explanations.
Edwinâs grades were at the top of the class. When he was explaining, he would pay extra attention to the parts that Shao Ci didnât understand. Shao Ci learned even more than when he went to class himself, and he understood mechas even better.
Edwin would also make all kinds of delicious foods to feed Shao Ci. He was afraid that Shao Ci would get bored staying inside day after day, so he changed his cooking all the time.
Shao Ci was originally a homebody who didnât have much desire to go outside anyway. His new lifestyle couldnât be any better. He had pretty much anything he wanted, all kinds of delicious foods, and he could go online to practice mecha maneuvering whenever he wanted. He had even less desire to go outside.
Edwin was different. His emotions were extremely complicated.
This wasnât any good to Shao Ci, but because Edwin could stay alone with Shao Ci and without anyone bothering them, he was secretly delighted.
He even wished that they could always live like this. He didnât even care what kind of price he had to pay.
â
In the blink of an eye, it was time for the final match of the virtual mecha competition.
Recently, the officials had contacted several of the competitors to let everyone advertise themselves and so on. Occasionally, there were a few who were invited to go on a show for publicity. They were pretty much the same as a celebrity⌠But in a world like this that worshipped the strong, compared to a celebrity, generals and marshals and others like them had the most fans.
Of course, Shao Ci never appeared. After all, wasnât it too extreme to go promoting himself with a mosaic on his face? Besides, that wasnât even the important part. It would be an absolute joke if he accidentally revealed his identity!
Anyway, he could market himself as a cool character (Shao Ci had already chosen to ignore the atrocities he had committed on his mecha to get advertising fees).
He didnât expect that his actions would really make his fans even more frenzied. The idol in their hearts should be as mysterious and aloof as this. He was incredibly cool.
The ad-filled mecha that Shao Ci usually used was also being praised like crazy. People said the mecha was just like a work of art. Art was something the general populace couldnât understand, so normal people didnât understand Prince Latiaoâs sense of aesthetic.
Weâre sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so weâre going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Shao Ci, who only ever read easy, relaxed novels, firmly rejected those kinds of novels. Maybe those novels had more depth, but he only read for entertainment. Who cared about depth and so on?
But right now, Shao Ci would rather Pei Shijian was the protagonist of a novel like that⌠A protagonist with a cheat on his side had zero friendliness to a cannon fodder like him!!
Especially because Pei Shijian had definitely got the cheat and leveled up before he came back. Shao Ci had stabbed him several times, so Pei Shijian definitely had a deep hatred for him. If he didnât stab Shao Ci several dozen times in return, then he wasnât Pei Shijian.
Still, he didnât need to worry about Pei Shijian exposing him for those stabs. Pei Shijian was the kind of person valued his reputation more than anything, and he absolutely wouldnât say that he had been given serious stab wounds by a beta. It was too humiliating. It completely ruined his perfect image.
Shao Ci only had the guts to go on the school website to take a look. As expected, they were all excited. All of the threads were about Pei Shijian, saying Pei Shijian was like the representative of the empireâs military institute. It was as though the institute was done for without him.
The indignant people who had been calling for Shao Ci to be expelled werenât saying anything anymore. They were probably too busy licking Pei Shijianâs boots.
Things had pretty much completely blown over, but now that Pei Shijian was back, Shao Ci was even more afraid to go out. He would rather curl up at home and bear it until he reached the ending of the novel. He didnât want to go out so soon and bind to Pei Shijian so miserably!
Soon, it was the day the finals really began.
Shao Ci naturally won his first match. With his incredible spiritual energy, he wasnât worried about losing at all. Now, there was nobody at the competition who was a threat besides Pei Shijian.
But when Shao Ci thought about the guy who paid two million empire coins to face him one-on-one and the words he said, Shao Ci felt a faint sense of worry. He kept secretly looking at his surrounding opponents, but he didnât find anyone like that person.
Could it be that the challenger had just wanted to toy with him a bit, and didnât have any treacherous intentions? âŚWho would have so much free time.
After returning, Pei Shijianâs strength skyrocketed. During the competition, he was even more incredible. He made all kinds of incredibly difficult moves look easy. Recordings were being spread around the internet at an insane speed. Countless people were drawn in by Pei Shijianâs charm. Soon, people were even beginning to call him the Nationâs Mr. Perfect.
If they were following the plot of the original novel, he would definitely be the Nationâs Mr. Perfect.
But in the very last match, Pei Shijianâs opponent was Prince Latiao.
Over the course of the competition, the two of them had gathered many fans. Even if they said they would always worship their own idol, in reality, whoever could win would be the victor, and nobody would remember the loser.
Shao Ci was under high pressure. The main worry was that Pei Shijian was fateâs favorite! Under the protection of his plot armor, it would be hard if Shao Ci wanted to win. Last time he had been relaxed about winning because it couldnât impact the plot too much. This time, there would be a huge affect.
Although he was relying on his plot armor, even if Pei Shijian lost he would be able to make a comeback. In this novel, the plot typically moved forward with incredible ease. When Pei Shijian wasnât being abused, he was truly the authorâs biological son.
Shao Ci didnât want to lose. He had already made it so far. Even if he had to risk his life, he had to give it his all.
Edwin was also aware that they were in a dangerous situation. Every day, he would make foods to build up oneâs health and take care of Shao Ci in all kinds of ways. Sometimes, he would even feed Shao Ci⌠Oddly enough, Shao Ci had a feeling that he had already settled down and gotten married. Edwin was too much of a perfect wife.
Finally, the day of the final match arrived.
Many people had already been anticipating Prince Latiaoâs fight.
The match was finally about to begin. When the tickets were made available online a few days ago, they had been snapped up. Even though there were people reselling the tickets at a high price, it was impossible to get one. Not everyone had the chance to watch the finals from such a close distance, even ignoring the fact that the two competitors fighting were both figures that would only appear once in decades.
Before the competition properly started, everyone was discussing eagerly. âWho will win?â
âAlthough I think both sides are strong, God Time should be the one who will win. After all, heâs always been competing with the worst model mecha. His true strength is obvious.â
âYou guys donât know? Prince Latiao used an old mecha in his first fight too. And back then, he won right away. He canât be any less skilled than Time.â
âBut all the mechas Prince Latiao use now are new models. I bet he knows heâs not skilled enough, and he canât defeat anyone with the old models, right? From this perspective, heâs taking the upper hand because of his mecha.â
âToo bad. God Time will be at a disadvantage in this sense. The mecha he uses is so far behind the other one. Itâs very likely that even if heâs stronger than his opponent, heâll lose. Itâd be good if he didnât stick to it.â
It was easy to see Pei Shijianâs scheming from this perspective. Even if he lost the competition, he could blame it on his mecha being low quality. There would probably be a bunch of people who complained on behalf of him and saying that even though he had lost the competition he had won in skills or something like that.
In the next moment, their mechas appeared on both sides of the battlefield. When everyone saw the sight, their eyes widened in shock.
âWhat the heck? Theyâre both old-fashioned mechas?â
âPrince Latiao picked an old-fashioned mecha too? What is he thinking?â
Precisely. Even if it was a mecha packed with ads, the mechaâs model was the cheapest old-fashioned mecha no matter how you looked at it. It was exactly the same as the mecha that his opponent Pei Shijian was using.
These old-fashioned mechas had fallen out of use in the outside world. They only had the most basic functions. Nowadays, only newbies who were just starting to come in contact with mechas would use them, but they had made their way into the finals.
Even the host was shocked. The host explained, âSurprisingly, Prince Latiao is using the old-fashioned mecha. It seems that he wants to have a just, honorable, and fair match with Time.â
Precisely. Shao Ci had always kept an eye on the news online, and already knew what they were thinking. To avoid being accused for unfairness even if he won, Shao Ci had immediately chosen the same old-fashioned mecha as Pei Shijian. He would save himself a lot of trouble.
Across from him, Pei Shijian was sitting in his seat, completely at ease. He looked at his opponentâs old-fashioned mecha, raising an eyebrow. âNot bad. You picked the same old mecha as I did⌠Youâre really confident in your strength. But if a newbie like you wants to win against me, youâve still got a long way to go.â
Pei Shijian had never faced a setback from anyone other than Shao Ci, and he didnât believe that anyone would get a win by accident the way Shao Ci had.
Pei Shijian looked towards his wrist. On it was an hideous wound. In the real world, the wound had already been healed by the power of the necklace, but he had specially added it back on in the virtual world as a memento.
After he had been stabbed several times by Shao Ci back on that planet, Pei Shijian had discovered the secret of the necklace his mother left behind by chance. In a series of coincidences, he arrived at a cavern and obtained an ore that might have been left behind by an aboriginal of the native land.
The ore could activate someoneâs innate potential, and stimulated the imperial blood that had been passed onto Pei Shijian. In moments, his strength rose up a level, and his features were more attractive than they were previously.
At first, Shao Ci had roasted the novel. Everyone was human, but why was the imperial familyâs bloodline so incredible⌠But if the author wanted to give Pei Shijian a cheat then there was nothing he could do.
Afterward, Pei Shijian returned to the capital planet. He had pretty much guessed his identity, and he immediately felt even more unwilling to accept his status in life.
He was the emperorâs biological child, so why did his mother have to have a strenuous labor in the slums and pass away? And he had grown up in the orphanage, but the other princes and princesses could life such easy lives⌠If his mother had simply been treated in a good environment, nothing would have happened to her.
Pei Shijianâs heart burst with an impulse to get revenge against society. He had never been someone moral and upright, so turning evil could happen in minutes⌠In fact, he had always been evil. He had never been good.
Pei Shijian knew that while his classmates in the institute flattered him, he was nothing to the imperial family. Thus, he needed to seize first place in the virtual mecha competition in order to increase his bargaining chips.
But ever since he came back, he had never even seen Shao Ciâs shadow. He guessed that Shao Ci was hiding from him, but Pei Shijian didnât get annoyed. As long as he possessed power in the future, how would it be difficult to keep a beta at his side?
Even if Shao Ci wanted to hide, the people at his side would present bring him to Pei Shijian by hook or by crook.
Besides, after Pei Shijianâs strength increased, he was several levels above other people. He didnât face any difficulty in the previous matches. Now that he was facing Prince Latiao, someone who was always placed on par with him online, he still didnât feel any sense of crisis.
Unless this Prince Latiao was Shao Ci, who had put him in a bad spot time and time again. But how could that be?
âLetâs do it. Use your defeated, pained despair to ingratiate yourself to me.â Pei Shijian smiled slightly, maneuvering his mecha to walk into the battlefield.
At the same time, Shao Ci mirrored him and walked in.
Both of them wanted to get the match over and steamroller their opponent as quickly as possible. Shao Ci felt that if he was too late, something bad would happen, but Pei Shijian didnât feel like wasting his time in a fight. Thinking along the same lines, as soon as they entered the battlefield, they quickly engaged in battle.
The crowd couldnât keep up. They couldnât believe that they were looking at a fight between two old-fashioned mechas. They felt that it would have been worth the money even if they had paid ten times the price for their tickets.
The people watching the livestream were ashamed of themselves. Practically everyone had piloted an old-fashioned mecha before, but there had never been anyone who could bring them out to this level. It was obvious how skilled these two pilots wereâŚ
Although strong spiritual energy was said to allow anyone to maneuver a mecha however they wished, being able to maneuver however they wished wasnât enough to win. At first, Shao Ci was nothing impressive. He had only increased his strength after practicing hard for the last few weeks.
What the crowd didnât know was that in actuality both of them were hiding something. Pei Shijian was waiting for his opponent to show his full strength before he used his spiritual energy to thrash them. On the other hand, Shao Ci was afraid Pei Shijian would discover his true identity, so he didnât dare to use his spiritual energy.
The two of them exchanged fierce blows. Each move was targeted right at their opponentâs vitals, but both of them were incredibly quick. The number of times they took a blow could be counted on their fingers.
After all, these were extremely fragile old-fashioned mechas, and the virtual net was faithful to its original construction. If they were hit by a few strong blows, they would fall apart. The victor would be clear as day.
Everyone looked on, holding their breaths, afraid of missing a single detail. A brilliant fight like this might only come once in years.
Shao Ci originally planned to finish the fight quickly, but he didnât expect that Pei Shijian would have such strength after leveling up. Just as he was debating if he should use his ability, a familiar heat welled up in his body.
â???!â Shao Ci was ready to vomit blood. His movements slowed, and he barely managed to stop Pei Shijian from seizing the chance to defeat him. Luckily, by relying onto his strong spiritual energy, he was able to avoid the blow.
Fuck, he had obviously just used his inhibitors! Why was his heat still⌠Although he had heard that after inhibitors would lose their efficacy in the long term, it couldnât be so quickly, right! He didnât take that many before either.
As expected, this was the world consciousness preventing him from triumphing over the son of destiny Pei Shijian. If he kept delaying like this, Shao Ci felt that there was a very real possibility he would explode lying in the nutrient cabin.
âThereâs nothing I can do. I can only take this chanceâŚâ While his rationale hadnât completely disappeared, he used his spiritual energy in a surprise attack. He couldnât care too much about it now.
In that moment, Pei Shijian felt a familiar sense of danger. He immediately gritted his teeth, but at that moment, he had no way to dodge the attack. If he avoided it, it would only result in a loss. How could he resign himself to it? He could only block Shao Ciâs attack stiffly.
Thus, in the next moment, Shao Ciâs spiritual energy connected with the spiritual energy stuck to Pei Shijianâs mecha.
It was easy for spiritual energy to taint someone elseâs emotions. In that moment, Pei Shijian felt like he was experiencing the same anxiety in his opponentâs spiritual energy. It felt like his body was turning hot, but most importantly was that this spiritual energy was so familiarâŚ
If it was the Pei Shijian of the past, he would probably be terrified by this spiritual energy and faint away, but after leveling up, his spiritual energy had increased significantly. As he struggled to barely resist the spiritual energy, he had some spare energy left to think.
ââŚSo it was youâŚâ In that moment, several things that Pei Shijian couldnât understand became clear, breaking through the clouds of mystery and into the sun of realization.
No wonder Edwin, who didnât have the slightest interest in Shao Ci, suddenly chased after him so furiously. No wonder Ji Zhaoyun also treated him differently than he treated others. In fact, the one who had been in the dark was Pei Shijian.
Pei Shijianâs heart pounded. He got more and more excited. âShao Ci, just how many pleasant surprises can you give to me? Let me see your true strength.â
To outsiders, the two mechas were both locked in combat, refusing to budge, but those who were familiar with mechas knew that the two pilots were immersed in a fight of spiritual energies.
In normal circumstances, Shao Ci could drive out Pei Shijianâs spiritual energy, but at that moment he was struggling to focus his attention. His strength was probably equal to just two thirds of his normal strength.
Yet Pei Shijianâs spiritual energy was like a sharp sword, twisting furiously into Shao Ciâs spiritual energy. Both of their emotions were being transmitted almost completely. It was hard for either of them to recognize which ones were their real feelings.
âDammitâŚâ Shao Ci gritted his teeth, his body getting hotter and hotter. Although he knew his opponentâs situation should be about the same, in the end they still couldnât go on like this. âIf things stay like this, Iâll definitely lose.â
From the other side, Pei Shijianâs spiritual energy probed another level deeper, wanting to come into contact with the core of Shao Ciâs spiritual energy. Normally, only people with the most intimate relationships could do something like this. It was even possible to learn about a portion of the other personâs memories. Of course, if one partyâs spiritual energy was enough to overpower the other personâs, they could also do it forcefully.
âNo.â Shao Ci jolted awake. Seizing the opportunity, he pulled his consciousness back from Pei Shijian. Before Pei Shijian could react, he used his mechaâs skewer to impale his opponentâs cockpit.
And thus their deadlock ended.
Shao Ci panted, completely exhausted. He was about to collapse in the mechaâs cockpit. ââŚIâŚI wonâŚâ
He had actually won against Pei Shijian, someone blessed by the world consciousness. This was something simply impossible⌠Even if he really exploded in the nutrient cabin, it was fine.
Shao Ci was about to faint, but because of his heat his mind was overstimulated and his spiritual energy was thusly in an abnormal state. After he left the competition, he was forcibly logged out of the virtual world. It was a function to protect some people from being too stimulated in the virtual world and causing an accident to happen.
â
In the virtual world, cheers rose up in the arena. Everyone was cheering for Prince Latiao in excitement.
Prince Latiao had managed to use the old-fashioned mecha, the one that Pei Shijian was most skilled with, to defeat him. It was simply more proof for how powerful his strength was. In the future, Timeâs fans couldnât mock Prince Latiao anymore.
Only Edwin thought there was something off about the situation. When he thought about how Shao Ciâs situation had been recently, he quickly logged off, leaving his nutrient cabin and rushing to Shao Ciâs room.
As soon as he entered the room, Edwin smelled an incredibly thick omega scent. It was the smell of an omega who had thoroughly gone into heat.
âAs I thought.. Itâs your heat?â Edwinâs heartstrings tightened.
If he was a normal alpha, he would have lost control and charged forward a long time ago, but Edwin was extremely calm. He made his way to the nutrient cabin step by step, slowly observing the situation.
Shao Ci was laying in the nutrient cabin, his pale cheeks thoroughly flushed red and his eyes full of tears. He couldnât keep his breathing steady. It looked like he was in horrible suffering.
Edwin leaned over, reaching out to touch Shao Ciâs body gently. Immediately, Shao Ci let out a low sob. The place he had been touched turned red rapidly⌠Because he had always suppressed his heat, his body was now incredibly sensitive.
Edwinâs cheeks flushed. He leaned in close to Shao Ciâs ear, his voice low. ââŚRight now, what do you wish for me to do?â
âI-Iâm thirstyâŚâ Shao Ci mumbled. âWaterâŚâ
Edwin grabbed a cup of water from the side, taking a sip and holding it in his mouth. He pressed against Shao Ciâs lips, sending the water slowly into his mouth.
Edwin finished feeding him the water, but Shao Ci wrapped his arms tightly around the back of Edwinâs neck as though he was afraid he would leave, sucking the liquid from his mouth as though it would dispel the heat in his body.
Edwin lifted his head after a long time. He picked Shao Ci, who had lost much of his sense of reason, up from the nutrient cabin walking towards the bathroom. He had to give Shao Ci a bath.
Shao Ci was completely immersed in the agony of his heat. He kept squirming in Edwinâs hold, saying quietly, ââŚHelp⌠Help meâŚâ
In these circumstances, Shao Ci couldnât really tell exactly what was happening to him. He felt as though he was in a dangerous situation, but wasnât sure. He just had the faint feeling that he could believe in Edwin, and so he unconsciously relied on him.
Edwinâs deep green eyes darkened completely. He pulled Shao Ci into his arms, his voice low. âThen would you mind if I caused you offense now?â