Chapter 45: Kiss

Chapter 45: Surveillance and Deception

Lanen was trained in professional anti-surveillance techniques, so his eyes briefly flicked to the camera before darting away, as if it were just an accidental glance, noticing nothing.

Then, he naturally lowered his gaze, his chin brushing against Lin You's neck. Two strands of silver hair fell disheveled from his temples, perfectly obscuring his expression.

From the camera's angle, he appeared half-kneeling on the ground, looking disheveled, breathing rapidly, clinging tightly to Lin You to absorb the pheromones, his back trembling slightly.

—Exactly the behavior of someone who had taken a pheromone dependency aid.

But in a place the camera couldn't see, Lanen narrowed his eyes slightly.

Lin You, the Third Prince of the Empire, actually had someone dare to install a camera in his residence?

Who could it be?

Considering the earlier invitation from the First Prince, the answer was obvious. Lanen slumped in Lin You's arms, his body limp, carefully encircling Lin You with a gentle motion, but his expression was icy cold, even letting out a scoff, thinking, "What a spineless coward."

The First Prince had already brought him to this point, yet he still wasn't satisfied, resorting to a pheromone dependency aid as an additional insurance?

He curled his lips mockingly, thinking, "Lin Yu, you're really that scared of me?"

If Lanen had anticipated all this, then in a flash of thought, there was one thing that left him puzzled and confused.

What was his Third Prince really up to?

Lin You held him tightly, his hand sliding down his spine, and even through two layers of uniform, Lanen could feel the warmth of his fingers.

...It was soothing.

The embrace was overwhelmingly warm. Lin You's fingers gently combed through his hair, intermittently soothing him. Once the body in his arms calmed down, he avoided the camera and took a strange pale yellow gag drink from the items brought by the attendant. He then unscrewed the cap, pretending to accidentally spill it, and the drink splashed onto the floor, instantly filling the room with a sour, rotten stench.

This was a popular prank drink in the capital recently, designed to mimic the shape and smell of vomit.

After doing this, Lin You silently released his pheromones, the citrus scent wrapping around Lanen. Lanen let out a soft groan, his body going limp, his face unnaturally flushed. His azure eyes fixed on Lin You as he whispered, "Third Prince..."

Lin You stroked the silver-white hair and said gently, "Lanen, be good, will you?"

These were scripted lines.

Then, he stood up and went out to tell the attendants to change the room. Without Lin You's support, Lanen's legs gave out. He didn't attempt to stand, instead collapsing awkwardly to the ground, struggling to prop himself up in a kneeling position, as if he lacked even the strength to draw breath.

All of this was meticulously recorded by the camera.

Lin You, meanwhile, exited the room and made his way downstairs to the master bedroom.

He still had another scene to play.

A tabloid tale, of course, wouldn't stop after just administering the drug. After the drug, a passionate encounter was expected. But Lin You, being a prince, wouldn't sleep in a room that stank of vomit. So he waved over the attendants, ordering them to clean the room, prepare another one, and then carry the limp general over for his continued amusement.

The attendants bowed respectfully, their eyes showing a hint of sympathy for Lanen, but duty-bound, they meticulously cleaned up and then, in groups of four, lifted the general.

Lin You walked out of the room and headed downstairs toward the master bedroom.

The First Prince stood at the top of the stairs.

A strange light flickered in his irises before returning to their warm, dark hue. He smiled at Lin You, his tone tinged with surprise, "Already?"

Lin You, with a cold expression, perfectly portrayed the spoiled and capricious prince. He kicked a pebble at his feet, "Lanen vomited, the room stinks to high heaven, it's completely ruined my appetite."

The eldest prince smiled slightly, stood up, and straightened Lin You's collar for him, saying gently, "No rush. Once he drinks that wine, he’ll be yours, body and soul. A little more time won’t hurt."

Lin You sneered inwardly, thinking, "Using pheromones to control someone and calling it *real* sincerity?" But on the surface, he nodded, feigning eagerness, "I’m heading to the master bedroom to continue."

This was Lin You’s estate. The eldest prince could install cameras here for two reasons: first, this was a guest room, and security during the banquet was lax; second, he had guided Lin You here to fetch the wine, and Lin You, 'eagerly,' chose the nearest room, making it easy to plant the cameras.

But the master bedroom was beyond the eldest prince’s reach.

As they spoke, the attendants had already carried Lanen out. Iris Major General’s body was limp, and he could barely stand without the attendants’ support. His brows were tightly furrowed, sweat dripping down drop by drop. His upper lip was pale, but his lower lip was swollen and blood-red from being bitten. Even his silver hair seemed dull, devoid of its usual shine. As he passed the eldest prince and Lin You, he turned his head slightly, his azure eyes glistening with what, upon closer look, seemed like seething hatred.

The eldest prince smiled, watching him go.

Lin You glanced at Lanen, a flicker of concern crossing his mind.

He had used pheromones to manipulate Lanen, making him seem like he’d taken an addictive drug. To make it convincing, he’d even used a hefty dose.

...But now, the effect felt *too* real.

Did I overdo it?

Lanen was hypersensitive to his pheromones, and Lin You couldn’t shake the thought that he might’ve gone too far.

At this moment, the eldest prince gently pushed him, winking suggestively, "Go on, Xiao You. Big brother won’t interrupt your little rendezvous."

Lin You raised a smile, "Then I’ll be off."

He quickly walked toward the master bedroom.

But as soon as his back was turned to the eldest prince, Lin You’s expression went blank.

He tapped the system, "66?"

66 understood immediately, "A bug, at the third stitch on the right collar. He planted it when he fixed your collar."

Lin You nodded.

He glanced at the collar, spotting the pinprick-sized black dot, but played it cool and hurried to the master bedroom.

The master bedroom featured a massive two-meter bed, draped with curtains on all sides. On the bed lay a curled-up figure, gasping for breath, his silver hair cascading to the floor like silk.

Lin You glanced at the attendant and slightly raised his chin, "Has he behaved?"

The attendant lowered his eyes, "The Major General is on the bed. He didn’t put up a fight."

Lin You nodded and strode to the bedside, pulling Lanen out of the blanket. Seeing Lanen slightly open his mouth as if to speak, Lin You released a wave of pheromones. The citrus scent flooded the room, and Lanen let out a muffled groan, collapsing onto the bed.

Lin You silently apologized, thinking, "Sorry, Major General. I can’t risk you talking now."

If Lanen asked something he shouldn’t, and the eldest prince heard it, it would be hard to explain.

On the bed, Lanen tightly closed his eyes.

...This was too much.

Lanen's gaze was dazed as he lifted his eyes, as if he had drunk fake alcohol. But the moment Lin You entered, his eyes had already landed on the small bug on the other's collar.

A standard military issue, the Star M79, with a range of seven kilometers and a fifty-minute battery life.

Unfortunately, before he could analyze it further, his mind had already turned to chaos.

In the small bedroom, the concentration of pheromones had reached an absurd level. Lanen, without needing to act, couldn't help but tremble. He lifted his arm to encircle Lin You's neck, his voice pained: "Your Highness..."

—Stop it, I can't take it anymore.

Lin You didn't pick up on this message. He tilted Lanen's chin up and planted a long kiss on his lips, then cautiously observed the general for a moment, making sure that only gasps escaped those beautiful lips before leaning down to recite his lines.

Lin You pinched his earlobe, like a mischievous child who had just gotten his hands on a coveted toy: "How is it? Isn't it too much to bear?"

"..."

Lanen desperately wanted him to stop, but his eyes brimmed with tears, completely masking his expression.

Lin You sighed: "You're so beautiful, I can hardly bear it myself, Lanen. Be good, okay? If you're good, I'll give you what you want."

Lanen desperately wanted to speak, but his lips parted without uttering a single word.

Looking at the disheveled general, Lin You inwardly cursed the situation. He earnestly delivered his lines, his royal black eyes unblinkingly fixed on Lanen, appearing both capricious and haughty: "General, I think you should know what to do now, right?"

"...Know...know." Lanen stammered, his eyes glistening with faint tears, "Please, stop—"

Lin You was taken aback.

Given Lanen's pride as depicted in the novel, he shouldn't have yielded so easily. In fact, the general in the story held out for a long time, biting his wrist until it bled under the control of the addictive drug, until the Third Prince grew impatient and took matters into his own hands, ending the stalemate.

But Lanen's reaction indeed made things easier for Lin You, as one of the symptoms of pheromone addiction is an insatiable craving for pheromones, leading to unbearable pain and constant pleading if not satisfied.

By now, all the lines meant to be overheard in the novel had been delivered. Lin You removed his shirt and tossed it on the floor, said with measured calm: "As you wish."

Then, he accidentally stepped on the listening device.

—It's about to begin, and in such a tense situation, accidentally stepping on clothes on the floor before getting into bed is quite plausible, right?

66's voice interjected at the perfect moment: "The main circuit is damaged, the listening device is disabled."

The system's small screen discreetly scanned the two on the bed, holding back: "Host, enjoy your time."

It shut down and went offline.

Lin You leaned down, and Lanen, as if truly addicted to pheromones, eagerly pressed against Lin You, entwining in a desperate, clinging embrace. He resembled a parched traveler in the desert, pleading in his desperation: "Your Highness..."

He was answered with a kiss.

Then many more kisses.

They landed on his hairline, cheeks, the corners of his eyes, the tip of his nose, his collarbone, and countless other spots, dense yet gentle and teasing.

...

By the time it was over, Lanen couldn't even muster the strength to lift his hand.

Unlike the last time, when Lanen was truly in the throes of an extreme craving for pheromones, he was disoriented and not in his right mind. But this time, he was induced by an overdose of pheromones, and having just passed the initial marking period, he was acutely aware throughout.

It was nothing like the harrowing tales passed down among the females. There was no harm, no roughness. Regardless of the Third Prince's mindset, whether it was affection for a favored toy or some other emotion, Lanen could be certain that he was being cherished at this moment.

...But why?

He had schemed against the Third Prince with despicable means, used the wealth of the Collet Family as bait, prepared to take the addictive drug to buy a year's respite to complete unfinished business, and then die. Up to now, everything had been running on its predetermined track, except for the Third Prince.

Only the Third Prince was the exception.

*

As the banquet was nearing its end, the butler knocked on Lin You's door.

Lin You changed his clothes and came out as the host to deliver the closing speech. The system restarted and thoughtfully displayed the script on the screen, which Lin You read line by line.

After the speech concluded, the guests applauded, and the gifts for the Third Prince were uniformly registered and bound into a thick volume.

Originally, the Emperor was supposed to show up and give a speech when the prince came of age, but now the Emperor was too sick to get out of bed, so he only sent gifts and didn't make an appearance.

As midnight approached, all the guests gradually left. Lin You checked the original text; the original host wasn't particularly fond of Lanen, and after blowing off steam, he didn't invite him to stay the night. So, he called the attendants and had them take the Major General back to his residence.

Mostly, he hadn't figured out how to explain.

The actions at the banquet were just to complete the task, out of necessity, but to Lanen, his behavior must have seemed bizarre, irrational, almost crazy.

Lin You didn't know how to explain, so he simply didn't. After saying goodbye to all the guests, he let out a deep sigh; today's socializing had completely drained him.

After lying in bed for two hours, the system couldn't take it anymore and thoughtfully opened the game pod: "Su Zhu, how about a game?"

Lin You turned over: "Sure."

He quickly picked a character and jumped into the matchmaking interface, noticing the lobby was unusually lively this time. Countless messages scrolled by in the bottom right corner. Lin You looked closely and saw that Lanen had logged back in.

Iris Major General didn't log in often, but whenever he did, he became the talk of the town.

"What the hell is up with Major General Lanen this time? He's even more ruthless than last time."

"I got headshot the moment I matched, I didn't even get a clear look at the Major General's character."

"Being ruthless is one thing, but don't you think the Major General's behavior today is really strange? It's pretty creepy."

"Yeah, yeah, it's really weird."

Lin You was a bit curious. He tapped the speaker's avatar and sent a private message: "How is it weird?"

Lin You's ID was well-known in the military department, and the other party quickly sent a long string of messages.

"Damn, You God, you missed the earlier action and didn't know. Major General Lanen has always been the top killer in the military department. He doesn't play matches often, but when he does, he kills non-stop from morning till night, finishing one match and immediately starting another without rest, earning him the nickname Wheel War God. Sometimes he plays twenty or thirty matches in an afternoon, killing two or three hundred people is common."

"And what's weird this time? It's weird that he's resting. Every time Major General Lanen finishes a match, he doesn't continue. He just stands in place for twenty minutes, then starts the next match."

Lin You: "Stands in place for twenty minutes?"

Isn't that just spacing out?

"Yes, and I heard from teammates who matched with the Major General that he suddenly stopped moving halfway through the match. They thought he had disconnected and were overjoyed, about to sneak up on him, only to be headshot from a distance."

Lin You: "?"

Spacing out during matches too?

Lin You: "When is he coming out?"

The person pointed out: "The Major General has been in the match for a while, probably just these two or three minutes. You can wait; he usually spawns on that rock over there."

Lin You: "Thanks."

He waited a few minutes, and as the match ended, a figure flashed, and Lanen indeed spawned on the rock.

The Silverhaired Beauty stood in place, gazing blankly into the distance, motionless, standing like a tall and beautiful piece of wood.

He was indeed zoning out.

— Heaven knows, maybe the banquet today was too overwhelming, and he hasn’t recovered yet?

Lin You felt intrigued but also a bit guilty. He had been releasing his pheromones like crazy today, and the Major was practically drenched in a citrus scent.

Lin You circled around him, but Lanen showed no reaction. So, he reached out and poked the Major’s shoulder.

His hand was grabbed.

Lanen’s avatar frowned slightly, looking down at Lin You’s avatar with a cold expression and a calm tone, “What are you doing?”

“Uh,” Lin You hesitated, “I wanted to invite you to a match?”

Lanen’s gaze lingered on his ID. “One Pomelo Lord” had recently gained popularity, and even Lanen had heard of it.

Lanen said calmly, “You’ve improved remarkably. I noticed it the first time I matched with you.”

Lin You: “You remember me?”

He had just created his account back then.

“Yes,” Lanen scrutinized him. “Your first match was a complete mess—your gun-holding posture was all wrong. Back then, I thought if I were your general, I’d never send you to the battlefield—it’d be a death sentence. I wanted to suggest you retire right away so you wouldn’t waste your life on pointless pursuits.”

Lin You: “…”

He managed to say, “Really?”

In front of him, Lanen had never been this blunt before.

Lanen nodded lightly, “But from the second match, your progress was remarkable. You mastered gun handling in just two matches and picked up dodging and positioning skills. I remember in the last match, you blew off my cufflink.”

He praised, “Impressive.”

Lin You: “…Thank you.”

Lanen waved his hand, and a flood of combat videos appeared—all recent highlights of One Pomelo Lord. Lanen said, “I’ve analyzed your videos and concluded you don’t need match practice anymore. You’re already in the military’s top 1%—many Majors can’t keep up with you.”

“…”

Lin You had always treated the training system like a game, forgetting it was meant to train soldiers.

Lanen said, “If you want to keep improving, I suggest focusing on the flight control system—it’s just as crucial as matches.”

Lin You had never piloted a spacecraft before, so he asked, “I don’t know how—can you teach me?”

Lanen nodded, “Of course. I’m happy to mentor a diligent junior.”

They both switched systems simultaneously and entered the flight control interface.

Lin You had played shooting games, but knew nothing about spacecraft. The Zerg military spacecraft dashboard was incredibly complex, packed with a bewildering array of buttons. Lanen held his hand, guiding him to pull down the control stick, light up the dashboard, and then introduced the functions of the spacecraft one by one.

“If you hit a magnetic storm, press these buttons to stabilize the craft and ride it out; if you drift into a star ring…”

His expression was cold, his tone flat, but he explained very carefully, like a patient teacher. Lin You had an extraordinary memory, and after one explanation, he had a general idea.

After the explanation, Lanen let go of the control stick and signaled him, “You try now.”

The system simulated a chaotic cosmic environment. All around him was a high-speed asteroid belt, with cosmic rays and violent magnetic fields lurking everywhere. Once approached, the instruments would emit a piercing alarm.

Lin You took a deep breath and attempted to fly with his wings.

Two minutes later, he plummeted to the ground.

Lanen sat beside him, as upright as a soldier. He was like a strict instructor, his gloved hands naturally folded together, the lines of his calves hidden within his military boots. His serious demeanor made Lin You somewhat nervous.

Would he be scolded?

But Lanen sighed softly, "You're too tense. There's no need to hurry. Everyone struggles the first time. My first time, I only managed two minutes as well."

Lin You: "Did you have a teacher who taught you like this back then?"

Lanen: "Of course."

He gazed steadily at the dark artificial sky in the distance, where electronic planets hung high, forming a planetary belt that resembled a cloud. Lanen's expression softened with nostalgia, "When I first joined the military, my teacher was also a Major General. He had excellent flying skills and once entered a planetary ring, emerging unharmed from the high-speed stream of rocks and minerals."

Lin You asked curiously, "Is he still in the Third Army?"

If he remembered correctly, the highest-ranking officer in the Third Army now was a Major General. If that senior was already a Major General when Lanen joined the military, he should have been promoted to an even higher position by now.

"..."

"Yes," Lanen said with a smile after a brief pause, "He's still here, and always will be."

For the next hour, they practiced flight training together. Lin You started to understand some key points. He could roughly avoid large asteroids and execute smooth drifts with the flight simulator.

Lanen, acting like a kind mentor, didn't hesitate to praise his student: "Excellent skills. I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield one day."

Feeling guilty, Lin You touched his nose.

Citing the late hour, he said goodbye to Lanen and logged off. During this time, they exchanged account IDs, agreeing to continue practicing together in the future.

After a busy day, exhausted, Lin You prepared to sleep.

Before bed, he instinctively checked his light brain.

Every night, Lanen would say goodnight to him, always in the fixed format of "Goodnight, Esteemed Third Prince," like clockwork, as if he were an NPC in a game whose favor needed to be won.

Lin You never replied, as the Third Prince's character was designed to never respond. But as a novice in his first relationship, he actually had a hidden dependence on Lanen. Although he didn't reply, he always checked before bed.

But this time, there was nothing.

Lin You incredulously refreshed the page, but there was truly nothing.

Lanen hadn't even proposed to him yet, and now he wasn't even saying goodnight.

And males were always free-spirited. No matter how willful Lin You was, it wouldn't be out of character. He could do whatever he wanted. So, he angrily opened the communication channel and demanded, "Major General, where's my goodnight?"

The dialog box instantly lit up, as if the other party had been waiting in front of the screen for a long time. Lanen showed that he was typing, and after nearly half a minute, he sent a message.

He didn't use an honorific, but instead said, "Goodnight, my Prince."

66 prompted: "The Major General has changed his avatar."

The avatar on the Zerg chat interface was very small, almost indistinguishable without clicking on it.

Lin You clicked on it. Lanen was dressed in a grand Major General's military uniform, complete with sashes and shoulder straps. He knelt on one knee, his right hand pressed to his chest, performing a standard knight's salute with near reverence.