CW: nonconsensual sex (fade to black, mentioned in following scene)
In his confusion, Shao Ci couldnât distinguish what exactly Edwin had said. He nodded blankly.
Edwing lowered his head, peeling off Shao Ciâs sweat-soaked clothes like he was unwrapping a meticulously packaged gift.
It was only at these kinds of times that Shao Ci would only see him.
Edwin picked up Shao Ci and placed him into a bathtub filled with hot water. He lowered his head to kiss him on the lips. When they were red and swollen, he finally pulled back, kissing down the line of Shao Ciâs neck. His deep green eyes were filled with a manic longing, like the most pious believer prostrating himself before his god.
Shao Ci had been completely exhausted. He was too weak to do anything but lean against Edwin obediently. Because of his discomfort from his heat, he kept nuzzling against Edwinâs body, as though this way he could fill the void inside him.
âPlease forgive my offense.â
In his daze, Shao Ci seemed to hear Edwin say something. Immediately, a wave of pain seared through his body, and he couldnât stop himself from beginning to struggle.
The strength of an omega in heat was completely dismissable. Edwin pressed Shao Ci down easily, leaning down to kiss his pale nape gently. A hint of his desire finally shone into his eyes.
âIâll always be yours,â he murmured.
âŚCould you always keep your eyes on me as well?
Finally, he bit down.
â
When Shao Ci finally woke up, two days had already passed.
Shao Ci wasnât aware of what had happened yet. He lay on the bed, feeling like his body had fallen apart. There wasnât a single part of him that wasnât aching. He didnât have an ounce of energy.
But when Shao Ci felt the strangeness in the part below the neck that couldnât be described, a fragment of his memory welled up in his mind.
Shao Ci: â???â W-wait, what?! He did these things below the neck that couldnât be described with Edwin just like that?!
How did things reach this stage, huh?!
In the last world, it was whatever when he became a vegetable and Islair did these things to him. This world had been perfectly fine, but something like this had still happenedâŚ
Shao Ci felt like his worldview was about to shatter. Even worse, he remembered it this time!
The door opened. Edwin walked in, holding a plate of food. He looked like he hadnât slept all night. He had dark circles under his eyes and his blonde hair had lost its usual luster.
Shao Ci had no idea how he would face Edwin in the future. Even after looking at him for a long time, he still couldnât say anything.
Edwin placed the food at the side, but he immediately kneeled down, pulling out a sharp dagger and handing it to Shao Ci.
Shao Ci took the dagger, dumbfounded. âEdwin, this isâŚâ
âIt was all my fault. Iâve gone so far as to do such a thing to you.â Edwinâs voice was low. âIf youâre unhappy, please vent your anger on me however you like. Even if you want to kill me, I wonât say a single word of blame.â
âHow could I kill you because of something like thisâŚâ Shao Ci said. Besides, he wasnât the kind of person who would go around stabbing people just because he was upset!
He could only remember a few indistinct images. He couldnât remember the details at all.
âBut Iâve committed an irredeemable offense.â Edwin gritted his teeth. He grabbed the dagger, moving to stab it into his heart.
âWait!â Shao Ci pulled his hand back hastily. âT-This isnât your fault. After all, in those kinds of circumstances, as long as itâs a normal alpha thereâs no way to hold back.â
Except for Pei Shijian, the guy who had the authorâs cheat⌠In fact, when he thought about it, this was all Pei Shijianâs fault, wasnât it! If it wasnât for the sake of debating him, how would Shao Ci go into heat? Though the systems was a big problem too.
Edwin said, âBut if I canât gain your forgiveness, I donât know how I could be bold enough to live on.â
âItâs fine, itâs fine, I forgive you,â Shao Ci said quickly. He was afraid that Edwin would try to commit suicide if they disagreed in the slightest.
In any case, Shao Ci wouldnât die because of this. If he really thought about it, this wasnât actually his first time. Besides, being marked would save him a lot of trouble.
He would just pretend like nothing had happened at all.
Shao Ci felt he was someone who came around easilyâŚ
â
After the virtual mecha competition, a video of Prince Latiao and Time using old-fashioned mechas spread widely. Quickly, it sets off a resurgence of popularity for the old mechas.
Many people began to praise old mechas. There were even people who thought that people with real skill should use old-fashioned mechas to prove themselves.
And Prince Latiao became the idol in even more teenagersâ hearts.
Ji Zhaoyun, who had invested almost all of his time in training, made some time on the day of the finals. After he finished watching the match, he sank into silence.
He had already worked so hard, but he felt like Shao Ci was getting farther and farther away from him. No, he had to work even harder⌠He had to catch up to Shao Ciâs pace.
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.
Ji Zhaoyun dived into his training with renewed fervor, and improved noticeably. The people around him were stunned.
It seemed that beta should indeed have no connection to Prince Latiao. In comparison, it was more important that Pei Shijian had gone missing from that planet for several days. He should report this to His Highness RorisâŚ
Now that he thought about it, could his little brother really win against Edwin? When Ji Zhaoyuan thought about it, he couldnât help feeling a bit worried.
â
In the original novel, when Pei Shijian took first place, his renown spread far and wide. It was for this reason that one of his motherâs past admirers took notice of him.
Because Pei Shijianâs face was seventy to eighty percent similar to his motherâs, the admirer recognized him instantly. Later, the admirer contacted Pei Shijian in secretly, hiding his identity and offering him a lot of aid. He even organized several opportunities for Pei Shijian and the emperor get to know each other as father and son.
But because the emperor was afraid Pei Shijian would be assassinated by a member of the clan backing the crown prince, he had never publicized Pei Shijianâs identity. He only struck at Rorisâs power from the shadows. What he didnât know was that Roris had seen his each and every move, and Pei Shijianâs identity was laid bare before Rorisâs eyes.
Now, though Pei Shijian didnât take first place, his fame rose to a status similar to his fame in the original novel because of his and Shao Ciâs battle with the old-fashioned mechas.
In a certain airship, General Wiley, a man with influence, the empireâs hero who had battled against and vanquished the Zerg a dozen years ago, was watching a video on the virtual screen in front of him. When he saw the face on the screen, the cup he was holding slipped from his grip and dropped to the ground.
âAmelia?â
His voice was completely shocked.
It was common knowledge that General Wiley had started as an ordinary commoner born into poverty. He had managed to reach where he was today thanks to His Majesty the Emperorâs recognition.
But nobody knew that his beloved childhood sweetheart Amelia was the emperorâs mistress. It was also because of his guilt towards Amelia that the emperor had promoted Wiley. How else could he have risen up over the officers from noble families with just hard work?
Amelia had already been dead for over a dozen years. Wiley didnât expect that he would see someone who looked so similar to Amelia.
Wiley sent people to investigate almost immediately. When he saw the detailed report about Pei Shijian, he was practically trembling.
âThereâs no mistaking it⌠This is Ameliaâs childâŚâ
As soon as he thought of how Amelia had died wretchedly in the slums because of the Heimann familyâs persecution, and as soon as he thought of how that damned Heimann family was maintaining their power with the help of their relationship with the crown prince, Wileyâs emotions settled. He had to get revenge for Amelia.
But before he did that, he should properly foster the single child that Amelia left behind.
â
After the virtual mecha competition ended, though Pei Shijian wasnât first place, he was extremely popular in the institute. After all, the only person in the institute who had qualified for the finals was Pei Shijian.
Everyone consoled Pei Shijian, saying that Prince Latiao was so skilled that he had to be someone with decades of experience and who had practiced countless times before he had become so powerful. Pei Shijian was young, and he still had room to grow.
When people were consoling him, Pei Shijian put on a show of feeling motivated. In fact, he was very clear that Prince Latiaoâs real identity was the same person these people had mocked again and again⌠He didnât know what they would think if they discovered that Shao Ci was actually so strong.
Pei Shijian didnât expect that he would lose to the same person time and time again.
If he had lost to someone else, Pei Shijian wouldnât settle. He would want revenge. But after losing to Shao Ci, his heart filled with another kind of emotion.
Although he didnât take first place at the virtual mecha competition like everyone had expected, he was famous. There were also more strong people getting in contact with him. It looked like he had to get ready to choose his future path.
Before he knew his identity, Pei Shijian would have chosen the powerful family behind the crown prince, the Heimanns without hesitation. Besides, his good friend Edwin was also on their side. But now that he knew his identity, and with the fact that his ties with Edwin had been split ages ago, Pei Shijian changed his plans.
âThe person standing subtly against the Heimanns is General Wiley. Besides, he was also born as a commoner, so he wonât look solely at birth when judging someone. Iâll be able to stand out as someone with more strength.â Pei Shijian muttered to himself, âBut theyâve never had someone contact me. Or should I recommend myself to him after Iâve graduated?â
Pei Shijian wasnât the kind of person who needed someone else to invite him. As long as he could earn the greatest profit, he didnât care even if he had to abandon his reputation.
Just as he was thinking, a letter sent itself over. Pei Shijian opened it carelessly. When he saw the contents, he smiled slightly.
âItâs come.â
â
Although Pei Shijian didnât win, the plot still developed in the same way under the prompting of the world consciousness.
But there were a few plot points that diverged significantly from the original plotline. For example, after watching the video, General Wiley was extremely unhappy with Prince Latiao who won over Pei Shijian. He thought Prince Latiao was no stronger than Pei Shijian.
Moreover, General Wiley could easily see how unpracticed several of Prince Latiaoâs moves were. He had to be a dumb child who hadnât grown up yet. He had probably made use of his spiritual energy to defeat Pei Shijian.
General Wiley couldnât find Prince Latiaoâs true identity, but he wasnât afraid of offending anyone in the entire empire. His Majesty the Emperor was the one backing him.
Soon afterwards, while he was being interviewed, a journalist recalled Prince Latiao, who was famous recently, and asked about General Wileyâs thoughts about the recent virtual mecha competition.
General Wiley sneered. He openly and frankly expressed that he strongly disapproved of some young people who did anything for money regardless of their morals. Strength wasnât everything; moral character was also extremely important⌠Moreover, these people werenât necessarily that strong.
If it wasnât for the fact that Prince Latiao had fought in the final match with Pei Shijian using an old mecha, General Wiley would even have wanted to take the chance to praise Pei Shijian and put Prince Latiao down in the same breath. He only avoided mentioning Pei Shijian in order to stay a bit more lowkey.
General Wileyâs popularity wasnât something someone from the virtual world could compete with. After all, when the Zerg invaded the borders of the empire, they were able to fight them back because of General Wileyâs strength and his subordinates who risked their lives. He was the hero of countless young people. He had left a strong impression on the people of the empire.
Although General Wiley didnât mention any names, anyone could tell who he was talking about. Now that he had been ridiculed by General Wiley himself, Prince Latiao had absolutely no future.
In these circumstances, Prince Latiaoâs fans quickly reduced a significant amount. Several media channels also avoided the topic. Even officials of the virtual mecha competition were kept low-key, acting as though the competition didnât happen at all.
There were even a lot of people who didnât know what was going on but went the flow and started cursing Prince Latiao. Anyway, even General Wiley had cursed him. It was impossible for them to be in the wrong.
Many of Prince Latiaoâs fans couldnât stop themselves from refuting those people, but they were beaten back as brainless fanboys and fangirls. There were even many people who said that the fact someone like this still had so many fans was a sign of how low society had fallen and how the empireâs future was bleak.
Under these circumstances, many people left the fandom, but the remaining people held steadfast to their belief that Prince Latiao wouldnât disappoint them.
It was lucky that Prince Latiao didnât publicize his real identity, or he would have been cursed horribly.
This was what Shao Ci, who had rested several days to recover his emotional wounds, was faced with as soon as he logged on.
When he remembered that in the original novel General Wiley was Pei Shijianâs biggest supporter, he pretty much understood what was going on⌠General Wiley must have secretly started this trouble because he was unhappy that Pei Shijian lost.
In the original novel, General Wiley was exactly the kind of person who would defend someone even knowing they were in the wrong. He had basically seen Pei Shijian as his own son. Regardless of whether or not it was Pei Shijianâs fault, as long as it was someone who made Pei Shijian suffer, they were General Wileyâs enemy.
Moreover, other than his strength, General Wiley also had significant influence. Without his help, Pei Shijian couldnât have risen up the ranks so easily.
Right now, the most important thing was that Shao Ci couldnât say anything yet. He couldnât jump out and run to General Wiley to thrown down the gauntlet. He would definitely get mocked.
When Edwin found out, he wanted to use his familyâs influence to help Shao Ci, but Shao Ci stopped him. After all, General Wiley had a special place in many peopleâs hearts. If he came out to cross blades with him so carelessly, defeat would be the only possible ending.
And based on what Shao Ci knew of General Wiley, his attacks wouldnât cease so easily. If he pulled out his trump card now, he would have a hard time dealing with General Wiley in the future.
Edwin could only have his family log into the virtual world to spread positive propaganda about Prince Latiao. Of course, it didnât make a significant impact. It made Edwin so angry that he had people gather information about the people who were slandering Shao Ci online.
â
Just as Shao Ci thought, General Wiley wasnât satisfied yet. After putting down Prince Latiaoâs morals, he also wanted to put down Prince Latiaoâs strength until it was worth nothing.
So General Wiley suddenly said that he wasnât someone who was against the youth of today. He just wanted to temper the other person. After all, if a youth couldnât resist the pressure, how would he succeed in the future?
Immediately, General Wiley said that after seeing the videos of Prince Latiao, he felt that he had some strength, but the strength didnât mean much. If Prince Latiao could win against one of his subordinates, he would retract his previous statements. If he couldnât even do this, thenâwell, forget about it.
The subordinate that General Wiley dispatched was named Augustine. Although he wasnât famous, and he wasnât well-known among the public, he was truly strong.
But Augustine had a terrible temper. Once, he had even lost control and killed a teammate. If it wasnât for General Wileyâs protection, he would have been sentenced to death a long time ago. For that reason, he was stuck in limbo and couldnât be promoted or demoted, but his loyalty to General Wiley was unquestionable.
Under General Wileyâs guidance, many media channels came out to report on it. If Prince Latiao didnât accept the challenge, he would certainly be suppressed until he couldnât stand back up. If he accepted and lost, he would naturally meet the same end result.
There would be no good end unless he won against Augustine, but anyone with a discerning eye knew that this was impossible. Even though Prince Latiao was unopposed in the virtual world, he was still a long way from someone who had tempered themselves on the battlefield for decades.
When Shao Ci found out, the first thing he did was accept the challenge. The news quickly spread through the virtual world.
People who hadnât been paying attention to the virtual world began to pay attention when they found out that this was something General Wiley had prompted. Soon, there even the strong began to envy that Prince Latiao could have so much attention.
Naturally, General Wiley knew that if Prince Latiao won, he would become even more dazzling. But how could he win? He was just a green newbie. How could he win against his formidable subordinate?
â
The officials of the virtual mecha competition offered up a free space for the battle. They even provided several kinds of livestream services. The number of people online reached over a billion. The servers were practically about to explode.
Augustine, General Wileyâs strongest subordinate, was also piloting an old mecha.
Augustine was obviously using it to show his disdain for Shao Ci. Shao Ci was just using an old-fashioned mecha, but he could still be praised to the heavens? Even if there were a dozen virtual mecha competition champions surrounding Augustine at once, they were no match for him.
The MC introduced Augustineâs recent military achievements. Each time he finished listing one, the crowd would cheer.
If Augustineâs temper and luck were a bit better, he might have achieved success that could compare with General Wileyâs.
In comparison, Prince Latiaoâs brilliance was dim. Other than his single achievement of winning the virtual mecha competition, there was pretty much nothing else to say.
And under General Wileyâs suggestion, the media had already shaped Prince Latiao into a figure who was arrogant solely because of his one merit, his strength. All of the onlookers looked at Prince Latiao with stares full of disdain.
Only the fans who were taking up a minority of the stands and being glared at by the rest of the crowd as brainless fans shouted Prince Latiaoâs nickname continuously, trying to rouse his spirits.
Soon, the match that had drawn the practically entire empireâs attention began.
Shao Ci took a deep breath. This had nothing to do with the original plotline, so the world consciousness wouldnât affect it. He could move forward completely relying on his strength.
Their mechas locked in combat. Each one of Augustineâs moves were sinister attacks that were certain to make Shao Ciâs mecha break down in one hit. On the other hand, Shao Ci dodged continuously, looking as though he was evading with difficulty.
To an outsider, it was as though Augustine didnât want the fight to end quickly, and he was humiliating Prince Latiao unceasingly. Prince Latiao didnât have any power. It was clear that he wasnât strong enough to match his opponent.
As the MC watched, he felt his hair stand on end for Prince Latiao. âIt looks like the victor of the match is already clear.â
Internally, he couldnât help but sigh. Ever since the beginning, he had been paying attention to Prince Latiao. He was obviously strong and his future path was boundless. Who expected that he would have offended General Wiley? Now, it looked like he was going to be ground into the mud.
It was lucky his identity hadnât been exposed. In the future, he should be able to hold his head up in public if he changed his name and was a bit more low-key. Of course, he wouldnât be able to match up to his current status.
Prince Latiaoâs fans looked on in worry.
In their hearts, they also knew that Prince Latiao wasnât strong enough to compete with someone who had risked their life enduring the battlefield for decades. They pretty much thought of this match as Prince Latiaoâs final match, but they still had a faint sense of expectation in their hearts.
They expected that, just like they had countless times before, they would see Prince Latiao win against his opponent.
In fact, Shao Ci could use his spiritual energy to win easily, but this way he would expose how strong his spiritual energy was. Moreover, he really didnât have the battle experience to compare with his opponent. Why not take the chance to learn a bit?
What an outsider saw as perilous escapes was easy to Shao Ci. His spiritual energy could even analyze the principles behind Augustineâs moves and see what their goal was.
Although Augustine looked down on Shao Ci, he couldnât help feeling surprised that this Prince Latiao could somehow keep avoiding him time after time.
Soon, Augustine aimed an attack at him, but Prince Latiao faced it directly, not dodging it at all.
The crowd felt like the time had finally come. It looked like Prince Latiao had also become aware of the disparity between his and his opponentâs strength. He should have finally decided to admit defeat.
But things didnât turn out as they expected. Instead, Prince Latiao used a cunning move to grab Augustineâs weapon. While Augustine was stunned, Prince Latiao rapidly counterattacked with one of the moves Augustine had used previously.
If Augustine didnât react quickly, Shao Ci would have hit him right on the mark.
When Prince Latiaoâs fans saw the scene, their eyes lit up. In his first match, when nobody had known who he was, Prince Latiao had copied his opponentâs move. Could it be that he was preparing to use the same tactic this time?
âHmph.â Augustine sneered, his face full of mocking. âIf you want to copy me, youâre still decades behind in skills.â
His moves were all tempered in numerous occasions when his life hung in the balance. A greenhorn like this simply had no way to copy him. Even if he managed the form, how would he understand the principle? Unless he was someone with strong spiritual energy who could pass judgement depending on the situation⌠But if there really was someone with such strong spiritual energy, then how could General Wiley bring him so far down?
Those with experience shook their heads at the sight. At such a time, Prince Latiao didnât use a move he was familiar with, but instead copied his opponents? How could he defeat Augustine, who knew the move as well as the back of his hand? As they thought, Prince Latiao was still too young.
The MC also sighed silently. Out loud, he said, âIt looks like Prince Latiao wants to copy Augustineâs attacks to make it through the danger, but can he really do things so smoothly⌠Wait, his movements arenât quite the same as what Augustine just didâŚâ
Augustine was full of disdain. He sneered. âAs I thought, he canât even copy it. I think the competition should be coming to an endâŚâ
But in the next second, Prince Latiaoâs attack was different from what he expected. It scraped across the front of his mecha.
Augustine was stunned. âHow could it be? He managed to touched me? This move isnât performed like this⌠No, he modified it?â
Prince Latiaoâs attacks came one after another. Each move had a subtle difference from the attacks that Augustine had shown earlier, but it was clear that they were sharper than the old moves. Even someone who didnât know much about mechas could tell the difference.
And Augustine, who was intimately familiar with these moves, sank into a predicament precisely because of his familiarity. Prince Latiao had made changes to several of the most important points. It was impossible to defend.
All of the onlookers were shocked. âWhat!?â
âCould it be that Prince Latiao has made improvements to these moves?â The MC was stunned. Unconsciously, he blurted out what he was thinking in his head.
âHow could it be? Improving a move, and itâs improving someone as strong as Augustineâs⌠He saw every one of the weaknesses in his opponentâs moves. Only a mecha piloting expert can manage this.â
âCould it be that he really is strong? Thatâs impossible, right?â
âHow could someone as strong as this be unknown in reality? He must be someone as famous as General Wiley.â
âImpossible⌠It has to be a coincidence.â
Everyone immediately sank into confusion, but Prince Latiaoâs fans were cheering. It looked like this opponent wasnât as strong as they had thought. As expected, they had thought too much. How could someone as strong as Prince Latiao lose?
âShit.â Augustine gritted his teeth hard, his expression taking on an edge of savagery. âHow could I lose do a brat like this.â
But his opponentâs each and every move was impossible to predict. Even Augustine was having a hard time fending him off. On top of that, because he was confident he could overpower his opponent with his strength, he hadnât chosen a mecha that he was used to. It was even more difficult for him to get into his best condition.
âIâll have to use my spiritual energy.â Just like Shao Ciâs previous opponents, Augustine wanted to use a spiritual attack.
But before Augustine could draw out his spiritual energy, Prince Latiao seized his opportunity, His weapon slashed at the weak point of Augustineâs mecha.
Old-fashioned mechas like this were fragile. In moments, it fell apart, and the cockpit dropped to the ground.
Victory had, without question, been decided.
The crowd was absolutely flabbergasted. In the time that Prince Latiao went from his disadvantageous position to taking the upper hand to finally being victorious, only a few minutes had elapsed.
He was even able to win against Augustine. It was clear exactly how strong he was⌠And the moves that he had improved werenât coincidences. It was all because he was much stronger than Augustine that he could reach such a level.
Who exactly was this Prince Latiao?
But Prince Latiaoâs mecha didnât retreat after his victory. the cockpit opened, and someone jumped down, landing gracefully on the groud.
Even at a time like this, his face was mosaiced. Nobody could tell who he was.
Everyone was stunned. They looked down. At that moment, almost half of the empire was watching.
Shao Ci only felt a heat in his chest. He was filled with a strength like he had never felt before. Even with all of these people staring at him, he didnât feel timid at all.
After his fight with Augustine, he was suddenly filled with a fierce desire to become strong. He didnât want to rely on his spiritual energy to defeat his opponents, but to learn to use his own strength to learn how to attack. But most people didnât have the strength to satisfy him anymore. Now, he just so happened to have someone he could pickâŚ
âGeneral Wiley, since you wonât recognize my strength, then Iâll extend a challenge to you right here.â
Though Shao Ciâs voice wasnât loud, it resounded throughout the arena. It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
âGeneral Wiley, do you accept my challenge?â
The author has something to say:
Iâm almost finished writing this arc >V< There are probably three or four more chapters