Shen Zhifan waited until he’d gotten into Yan Shuo’s car to react to everything that had just occurred. He looked up to see Yan Shuo’s handsome profile, and suddenly realised.
So that was it, he’d terminated his contract with Battlesquad V?
Just like that?
Was it that simple?
Was he really just going to enlist?
“En, you will be enlisting. Are you scared?” Yan Shuo asked quietly, as if he had read his thoughts.
“Ah…no.” Shen Zhifan was still slightly puzzled. “Before, did I really avoid it?”
“En,” Yan Shuo nodded, “Though, it’s not important.”
“It isn’t?” Shen Zhifan was at a loss, “This isn’t good, right? I shouldn’t be this kind of person ah.”
Yan Shuo suddenly smiled softly, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing major. In any case, I was the one who handled that.”
Shen Zhifan didn’t respond in time, “Ah?”
“At that time, when I was writing off your experience in the underground mech arena,” Yan Shuo thought for a moment, “I also altered your age in passing. Your popularity was just kicking off, I thought it would be appropriate.”
Shen Zhifan, “…”
This misuse of one’s power seemed a little too brazen.
“It’s not as serious as you think, at most, it adds a postponement of a few years.” While talking, he lay back slightly and closed his eyes, as the vehicle was self-driven, “I’m taking a nap. Be good.”
…Be good.
Why did this manner of speaking sound so pampering and doting ah?
Shen Zhifan couldn’t help but bury his face into the scarf, then suddenly remembered that the scarf belonged to Yan Shuo.
Sitting in his male god’s car, wearing his male god’s scarf; his male god was even lying next to him.
It was as if he was filled to the brim with his male god’s scent.
God, how could something like this happen ah?
Shen Zhifan didn’t dare to move; even his face was tightly scrunched up. He was afraid that if he moved, he would smile, and if he smiled, he’d wake up from this dream.
Although there were still many things he wanted to ask, as soon as he looked up and opened his mouth, he shut it again. Yan Shuo really seemed somewhat exhausted; from such a close range he could see the slight darkness under the eyelashes of his closed eyes.
Did he not sleep well last night?
Shen Zhifan didn’t speak but still couldn’t help quietly looking at that person.
From his perspective, he could only see the other’s profile facing upwards. The bridge of his nose was high; the light from outside formed a soft golden glow around his silhouette. Shen Zhifan unconsciously touched his own nose, suddenly thinking that it was also quite high.
Like this, if the two of them kissed, would their noses bump against each other?
…Pah! Shen Zhifan, what are you thinking?
Be that as it may, the more he wanted to stop imagining things, the more intense it got. Shen Zhifan obviously hadn’t said anything, but his face, usually resembling thin jade, had flushed a mild red.
It was no good, he still couldn’t help but imagine.
As soon as he thought of the last time Yan Shuo had kissed him, it appeared before his eyes. What to do ah? Did Yan Shuo think that he didn’t know?
Did he need to play dumb?
Or…reveal it?
No no no, he immediately rejected this option. Until now, the General hadn’t seemed to have any other intentions.
Perhaps… his eyes darkened slightly.
Perhaps, Yan Shuo had also been drunk at that time ah. He had gotten drunk with only one sip of that wine, what if Yan Shuo had as well?
So, two single, intoxicated men, not knowing who was who, would then be in love for a moment, or something.
As soon as he thought of it, Shen Zhifan thought that it was very possible.
But there was still a small voice in his heart that spoke.
Yan Shuo was already so tired but came to specifically help you out, was it just simply because you ‘used to be’ his lifesaving benefactor?
One could tell at a glance that he was very busy, but he took you to train, to eat fish, and even came from distant parts to help you.
Was it only because of that?
Shen Zhifan was unable to sit still, very much wanting to shake the person beside him awake, then shake him by the shoulders and ask loudly ‘What exactly are you trying to do, huh?!’.
But did he dare?
It was impossible.
He let out a cautious sigh and could only keep looking at the person beside him.
Shen Zhifan looked at his thick eyelashes, his straight nose bridge, the depth of his eyes in his profile, and the pretty outline of his mildly-coloured, slightly parted lips.
“KK.”
Shen Zhifan, who was startled, suddenly realised that Yan Shuo was speaking and calling his mech name.
“I – I didn’t disturb you.”
Shen Zhifan carefully defended himself.
“I know,” He smiled, eyes still closed, even his eyelashes didn’t move, “But if you keep staring, I really won’t be able to sleep.”
Shen Zhifan’s face went from a light red to deeply flushed.
Yan Shuo opened his eyes and reached out a hand to lower the back of his seat. Shen Zhifan’s head tipped back and ended up level with Yan Shuo, making Shen Zhifan have a sort of… illusion that he was sharing a bed with Yan Shuo.
“You should sleep for a while too.” He said, “We will arrive at the military department when you wake up; it should be an hour or so.”
Shen Zhifan turned his face away, his heartbeat violent enough to make him feel as if it had flooded through the whole car. He covered his chest, scared that the other would hear the sound of his disorderly heartbeat.
“…Okay.”
Yan Shuo looked at the other through slitted eyes. On Shen Zhifan’s hair whorl was a strand that stuck up; perhaps it was because he didn’t sleep well last night.
That little strand was exceptionally cute, as if it was made to naturally tempt people.
He really wanted to rub at it, but obviously, he didn’t dare.
He took out a sleeping perfume from the side and lightly sprayed it twice, then closed his eyes.
It was really as if they were sharing a bed ah. The corners of his mouth tugged up slightly.
However, Shen Zhifan wasn’t sleeping. He tossed and turned for a while, but there was no way he could fall asleep with his male god in reach beside him. Not knowing how long had passed, he surreptitiously took out his phone, planning to anonymously post on some stupid website or something.
For example, “My male god is sleeping right next to me, what should I do?”.
But when he opened up the trending app he saw a page of slaughter.
Shen Zhifan, “…”
The home page was filled with his picture, accompanied by huge text.
“Famous mech star KK retires at his peak, exactly how many secrets are involved?!”
No way, it had only been a few minutes. Shen Zhifan felt as if the whole world knew his secret.
Even though he didn’t count as a proper celebrity, he didn’t expect that his fans would still follow him relentlessly.
Curious, he opened up the comments as well as his fans’ forum. As expected, it was filled with the plaintive whine of geese.
“I can’t stomach anything after hearing about this, is KK really enlisting?”
“Why did he have to join that vicious company ah, I’m really miserable ah. Is KK leaving just like that? Will I ever see him again?”
“My younger sister is making a fuss about wanting to enlist, how can I calm her down? Waiting online.”
“Upstairs, that’s not too bad. My younger brother is rushing to enlist, now he’s demanding to go get his head shaved. Exactly what poison made him think that enlistment requires you to go bald? Doesn’t he know that he’s from a ball planet? If he shaves his entire body, he’d look like five eggs. How is that handsome???” <sup>1</sup> I…have no idea what this means. It’s probably referring to a genetic trait that appears on people from that specific type of planet?
“Hahahahahahaha looking at the upstairs post, I actually laughed out loud… even though it’s such a tragic time.”
“If KK is enlisting, will he be entering the mech division? Then we can still see him, right?”
“No way, usually enlisting won’t get you into the mech division. If KK mixed around for a few more years then maybe he’d have a chance; the mech division is the highest division in the military, alright? KK probably doesn’t have the qualifications, unless he goes through a back door.”
“Speaking of, we’ve actually never known KK’s background?! KK’s about to retire, yet there’s no one coming out to tell us exactly which family’s genius he is?”
“Asking asking asking asking!”
“Upstairs is thinking too much, KK really doesn’t have any background.”
“I don’t believe it ah, KK is really too awesome ah. Tell me, who else has ever made it to the Hall of Fame in just two years? Other than KK, there’s absolutely no one!”
“I actually dreamt about KK winning the championship next season…when I awoke, the world had already changed…”
They were all basically in mourning. Shen Zhifan smiled; looking at these girls, he thought they were quite cute.
Enlisting ah, he was still a little at a loss. It shouldn’t be much, at least now he didn’t have to worry about his mech skills being exposed.
Shen Zhifan laughed a little then kept scrolling down.
Suddenly, the title of a post caught his attention.
“Your male god is currently lying next to me and he’ll soon become mine. Do you have anything to say?”
Shen Zhifan wanted to laugh, this was way too funny. The one lying next to me is actually my own male god.
He couldn’t help but tap into it and found that the main post had nothing but one word.
“Meow.”
Shen Zhifan’s heart jumped. Although this was probably just a way to act cute, he still felt as if something was rather strange.
Speaking of, his male god also had a cat.
The comments downstairs were all basically having fun making noise.
“OP, you’re dreaming. Right now, my male god is obviously on my bed doing adult things with me.”
“Upstairs, you’re dreaming, your male god is currently under my body. Every time you speak, I’ll add another thrust.”
Looking at that, Shen Zhifan reddened a little.
He scrolled back and continued looking at the trending post from before. As expected, arguments had started about what exactly the mech division was and how one could enter it.
“You guys can keep gossiping, but the mech division isn’t somewhere a mech celebrity can enter.”
“KK’s skills are far superior to an average mech celebrity, alright? Besides, the military makes its selections from mech stars anyway.”
“KK’s skills are being blown up to the sky by you guys. With all these bells and whistles, what’s the use?”
“Everyone, calm down for a moment. Insider here, with an understanding of the mech division. It is categorised as one of the Imperial Military’s high-level divisions and usually one can’t casually enter since the requirements are very strict. With KK’s skills – no shading or boasting here – getting into the mech division is absolutely no problem. There’s a few useless young masters in there too, who only know how to eat and wait for death. However, the mech division is really quite annoying; KK might actually not have enough connections, otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed with Battlesquad V for so long.”
“Finally, there’s someone who understands a bit more. The mech division really can’t be entered with just skills and fame, okay?”
“…But if KK doesn’t enter the mech division, it’s really such a waste ah QAQ ying ying ying.”
“The mech division is really at the frontlines! Why should KK go there ah? It’ll be good if he can comfortably pass two years in the army and come back.”
“Two years, easy for you to say ah!”
Mech division?
Again with a new vocabulary word. Though, Shen Zhifan remembered reading about something like this when he was researching. Usually, athletes that were quite accomplished would be called on by the mech division.
The mech division sounded brilliant and glorious. Shen Zhifan didn’t understand much and thought that most of it should be rumours. He was simply entering the army, cooling off in the shade of his male god’s tree.
Enlisting… there wasn’t anything wrong with enlistment.
Would he have few chances to see Shen Zhirou, and would he have to live together with a big group of men? Wait, thinking about this, it didn’t seem too great.
He secretly wondered if he could ask his male god to rescind his fate.
The car suddenly stopped. Yan Shuo opened his eyes, leaned over, and patted Shen Zhifan’s shoulder.
Shen Zhifan’s hand shook, he almost dropped his phone.
“A-Are we here?”
Yan Shuo nodded.
Shen Zhifan took a deep breath, sat up, and somewhat conflicted, wanted to discuss with his male god the question “although it doesn’t sound too good, I actually don’t really want to enlist”. Then, he lifted his head and saw a shining, solemn, and steady stone monument.
——“Imperial Mech Division Base One.”
Shen Zhifan blinked blankly, then glanced behind him.
He had been cooped inside the car so he hadn’t noticed any change, only now he realised that they had long left the residential areas.
All around him was a vast expanse of white wilderness. This was called ‘warm snow’, a natural landscape specific to the imperial planet.
The frost-like substance that blanketed their surroundings looked very similar to snow, yet it wasn’t. On the contrary, it was warm since the freezing point of the region was extremely low.
Turning around, it looked like the world was covered in snow.
Yan Shuo put on his coat and slowly walked out.
“Let’s go.”
Shen Zhifan, “…”
J-Just like this, I’m entering the legendary mech division?
D-Does this count as going through a backdoor?
Death: fun fact, variations of the word ‘enlist’ appeared in this chapter twelve times.
1
I…have no idea what this means. It’s probably referring to a genetic trait that appears on people from that specific type of planet?