Chapter 124

Chapter 124

But this damnable world did not offer him a second choice.

The two team leaders clearly did not care about gender or comfort when assigning tents, simply assigning the two students of the Imperial Honor Military Academy together. In their view, since everyone was here to carry out a mission, the word "comfort" should not even be considered. If a rut or heat period were to break out, a single injection would be far more effective than any tent arrangement.

They might die here any day, and yet they still dream of special treatment? Dream on!

—This was the exact quote from the Central Army team leader as relayed by Qi Wen.

"Fine," Yi Ye had no choice but to accept his fate.

Nighttime.

On Blue Flower Planet, untouched by heavy industrial pollution or deforestation, the night was exceptionally vast and clear. The starlight of the Milky Way glistened, like fireflies flickering on a black curtain.

It had been a long time since Yi Ye had seen such a clear night sky. He sat on a low stool for a while before finally getting up and entering the tent.

As he lifted the tent flap, he saw Eugene sitting inside, unpacking a sleeping bag from his backpack.

Eugene glanced at Yi Ye but said nothing, his lips downturned in a sullen silence, his mood clearly grim.

Rumor had it that, in addition to the tetanus antitoxin, the teammates had also injected him with a sedative, which Eugene was deeply displeased about. While his mental state was indeed unstable, he felt he was currently in control. Yet, he was still forced to take a sedative, and from afternoon till night, he had not shown a single pleasant expression.

Bai Chuan was helping the two team leaders organize information and would not be back for a while. For the time being, it was just Yi Ye and Eugene in the tent.

The atmosphere was dead quiet.

Yi Ye picked up the spare sleeping bag Bai Chuan had given him and moved over, hesitating between the spot against the wall and the middle before finally settling in the empty space between Bai Chuan and Eugene. If he didn’t separate them, he was genuinely afraid Eugene might suddenly pull out a gun in the middle of the night and turn Bai Chuan into a sieve.

Fortunately, the military double tent was more spacious than a regular tent, and its height was enough for a two-meter-tall youth to stand up and lie down. If two people slept in it, it would be too roomy, but with three, it was just right. At least he wouldn’t have to be pressed awkwardly against Eugene’s.

The compressed sleeping bag unfurled on its own once unpacked. As Yi Ye smoothed out the wrinkles, he noticed Eugene’s right hand in his peripheral vision. It was still wrapped in the handkerchief he had given him, without a fresh bandage. The cloth was soaked with blood, making it look especially grim.

"Aren’t you going to put on a new bandage?" Yi Ye asked.

Eugene, with his back to him, tugged at the stubborn knot on his sleeping bag, his tone flat: "I won’t die."

"It might get infected. Didn’t they put on any cream when they gave you the antitoxin?"

"As long as I can control myself and not lose it, they don’t care if I live or die." Eugene, unable to untie the knot, grew so frustrated that he yanked it apart, resulting in a loud tearing sound as the sleeping bag’s surface was ripped open.

Damn it! He took a deep breath, his neck veins bulging as he tried to suppress his anger.

The next second, the sleeping bag was suddenly taken from his hands.

"Give it back," Eugene turned around.

Yi Ye sat cross-legged on the ground, quickly undoing the knot, and soon held two crumpled, battered ropes in his hands.

"See?" he tilted his head, showing off, "I’m still better at this."

"..." Eugene snatched the ropes back, "I didn’t ask for your help."

Yi Ye made an "oh" sound, "Should I tie the knot again so you can rip the sleeping bag apart? Honestly, I don’t mind, but Bai Chuan doesn’t have an extra spare sleeping bag. Do you have a spare one? If you don’t, then I’d have to share one with you." He shrugged innocently, "To be honest, I really don’t want to."

Eugene’s teeth were practically grinding: "When did I say I wanted to share a sleeping bag with you?"

"Because," Yi Ye suddenly pressed on his wound, causing Eugene to grimace and let out a muffled groan, staring at him in disbelief.

"The temperature swings here are pretty drastic between day and night. If you catch a chill in the middle of the night after getting hurt, you could easily end up with a fever. The mission’s just starting, and I think we should steer clear of unnecessary sickness, don’t you?"

"...I’m an Alpha—you think I’m weak or something?"

"Then what was that wincing about earlier?"

Eugene shot back, "You heard wrong."

Yi Ye raised an eyebrow, his face practically saying, "Yeah, sure you did."

But even though Eugene talked tough, his hand didn’t resist when Yi Ye pulled it over, letting him hold it without a fight.

—Though his expression was still pretty grumpy.

The handkerchief had fused with the wound, and Yi Ye had to put in some effort to peel it off. Once the fabric was off, he quickly grabbed the medicine to stop the bleeding and slathered it on. He bit one end of the bandage and wrapped it tightly around the palm.

His movements were quick, and he didn’t hold back—no way it didn’t hurt.

But Eugene had a knack for brushing off pain, his eyes fixed on Yi Ye in silence. He didn’t care what the youth did to his hand—even if it got ruined, it didn’t matter to him.

He just thought... Yi Ye looked better when he was bandaging him than he did at other times.

At least better than when he’d pissed him off earlier.

His high ponytail let his black hair fall to one shoulder when he tilted his head.

His face and neck were pale, his collarbones sharp, but his lips were red and his eyes dark.

When they’d first met at the Imperial Honor Military Academy, Yi Ye’s hair wasn’t this long, but it had grown a lot in just two months.

The high ponytail suited him, and it’d probably look even better wet, like those sirens who lured sailors with their songs.

Yi Ye, who’d been under Eugene’s inexplicable gaze for a while, felt a shiver: "Can you... quit staring at me?"

"Why not?" His gaze was direct, "You’re sitting this close—how am I supposed to not look?"

"..." Talking to this guy was like pulling teeth.

Yi Ye deflected: "You just said the others don’t care if you live or die, but you’re a bishop, right? I figured they’d be all over you."

"Plenty on the main planet don’t believe in the Holy Church, and plenty think it should be wiped out," Eugene finally looked away, "Even fewer in the legion buy into it, and haters are everywhere."

Yi Ye: "So do you all in the Holy Church actually believe in gods?"

"They do."

"And you?"

Eugene didn’t answer, and after a while, he suddenly looked outside.

Bai Chuan pushed the tent flap aside and stepped in, pausing when he saw their hands touching, then walked over to the other side and dropped his backpack.

"We’re heading out at 7 a.m. tomorrow for the next mission point, brother. Wrap it up and get some sleep."

He took out the sleeping bag and placed it on the far left, pulling Yi Ye's sleeping bag closer to his position by a dozen centimeters, creating a clear boundary between him and Eugene.

"Oh, okay." Yi Ye tied the bandage, took off his uniform jacket, and got into the sleeping bag.

Eugene's expression was complicated. As soon as Yi Ye lay down, he reached out and dragged the "caterpillar-like" Twelve Seats closer to his side.

He tugged halfway, but it wouldn’t budge.

Bai Chuan had a firm grip on the other end.

Bai Chuan: "Let go."

Eugene grinned: "You don’t get to boss me around."

The two glared coldly at each other, the air was thick with tension, like invisible gunpowder smoke hanging over the tent. Yi Ye rolled his eyes in exasperation, dreading that if this kept up, his sleeping bag would rip with a painful tear.

"Can you quit yanking me around like a toy? My sleeping bag is about to tear!"

Eugene: "If it rips, you can bunk with me. Didn’t you just say you’d share my sleeping bag?"

Bai Chuan narrowed his eyes: "Bro, did you really say that?"

Yi Ye was stunned: "That’s not what I meant?!"

I clearly said I didn’t want to!

"Didn’t you hear my brother say the sleeping bag is about to tear? Last warning, let go." Bai Chuan didn’t have time to dwell on what happened before he arrived. The most important thing was to make his point clear right now.

Eugene sneered: "Why don’t you back off? Don’t forget you were the one who moved the sleeping bag first."

"It’s only right for me to sleep closer to my brother."

Yi Ye retorted inwardly: You two are the real siblings, not me!

"It seems like he’s been fooled by your words all these years." Eugene gripped one side of the sleeping bag tightly, not giving an inch. "You’re just a parasite hiding behind 'brotherly love.' You picked up nothing in that basement except for lies and tricks."

"No surprise you learned nothing in a place like the church," Bai Chuan said calmly. "Meanwhile, you’re still the same clown with an empty head, wearing your emotions on your sleeve since childhood. Even now, you can’t keep it together, living off pills and smokes. The Pope, that sly fox, never bothered with you, did he? Or maybe he thought you were beyond saving."

"What did you say?!" Eugene suddenly sat up.

"A lost cause of a clown." Bai Chuan repeated word by word. "What, do you need me to say it a third time?"

"You’re a worthless worm—I should’ve finished you off back then!"

The two argued fiercely, while Yi Ye lay weakly in his sleeping bag. His device buzzed with a message from Qi Wen.

"Twelve Seats Super Fan·Qi Wen": "QAQ Idol, your tent sounds like a warzone—are you okay? Do you want to escape to my place?"

"Yi Ye": "I’m fine… sort of…"

"Yi Ye": "It’s fine, I can handle it…"

Probably, haha.

He put away his device and slowly crawled out of the sleeping bag.

Two tall figures blocked the tent’s overhead light, each immersed in their angry argument.

Yi Ye buried his face in his hands, exhausted: "Cut it out."

Neither of them heard him.

Yi Ye repeated it again, but still, no one paid attention, and the argument only grew more intense.

Rubbing his temples with his hands, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "If you keep arguing, all of you get out!"

"…………"

The two immediately fell silent.

After saying that, Yi Ye lay back in his sleeping bag and covered his face, his voice devoid of any emotion: "I'm tired, turn off the lights. If you're not sleeping, get out!"

Eugene and Bai Chuan shared a silent look.

Bai Chuan knelt down and whispered softly: "Brother… are you angry?"

Yi Ye didn’t respond, but after about ten seconds, a hand emerged from the gap in the sleeping bag, then pointed towards the sky, giving the middle finger.