Chapter 003 Substitute Marriage 03

Chapter 003 Stand-In Marriage 03

Zhou Quan, the head of the Zhou family, was an Alpha, 58 years old. Not a single gray hair touched his temples, only two or three crow's feet etched at the corners of his eyes.

It was said that since his youth, he had always been a philanderer, indiscriminate about ABO types.

The moment Zhou Younan stepped inside, he saw Zhou Quan seated in a leather chair behind the desk, a handsome young man nestled in his arms. The man, a Beta, had no discernible scent.

Upon noticing Zhou Younan’s arrival, the man rose with a seductive grace and stepped aside.

Zhou Quan reluctantly tore his gaze away from the man’s shapely backside and glared at Zhou Younan with undisguised displeasure.

Zhou Quan possessed small, triangular eyes that always scanned people from head to toe before lingering on their exposed skin with a slimy, unsettling gaze.

To Zhou Younan, being stared at by Zhou Quan felt worse than being eyed by a drooling, vicious dog in the Short-Tailed Star detention center.

Zhou Quan’s gaze was utterly nauseating.

Zhou Younan tugged at his sleeves, attempting to retract his arms completely within the fabric.

He stood still in the room. "Uncle."

Zhou Quan leisurely took out a cigar. The man beside him obediently knelt to light it.

Once the cigar was lit, Zhou Quan took a puff, exhaled the smoke, and then grunted noncommittally in response to Zhou Younan.

"Nan Nan, that outfit suits you, though it’s a bit big—hmm—" His voice trailed off with a lewd inflection. Zhou Younan noticed the kneeling man remained hidden behind the desk, not getting up.

"You’ll be leaving Yaoxing in two days. I’ll have them adjust the clothes for you."

Zhou Younan nodded.

"Gently, you fool!" Zhou Quan snapped at whoever was under the desk.

Zhou Younan lowered his eyes, feigning ignorance of everything.

Zhou Quan took another drag from his cigar, his face contorting with pleasure.

"Hmm—your hair..."

Zhou Younan quickly covered his right forehead. "I don’t want to cut it."

Zhou Quan mulled it over. "Fine, keep it covered then. By the way—ah—Luo Luo is staying with the Zhou family."

Luo Luo staying with the Zhou family?! Zhou Younan couldn’t accept it! He had planned to take Luo Luo with him when he escaped.

"You promised before that Luo Luo could come with me."

"That was before you tried to run from the marriage!" Zhou Quan’s eyes flashed with impatience. "Luo Luo staying is your punishment for trying to escape! You have only yourself to blame."

"Luo Luo has been with me since childhood, I—"

*Slap!* Zhou Younan’s words were cut off.

Zhou Quan slammed his palm on the desk, his tone sharp. "A mere Omega like you bringing a child under ten to a marriage? What kind of nonsense is that! It’ll tarnish the Zhou family’s reputation!"

Zhou Quan’s expression frightened Zhou Younan, but if Luo Luo stayed, and he escaped midway, he could only imagine how the Zhou family would treat the boy.

Feigning submission, Zhou Younan pleaded, "Running away was my mistake. I admit it. Please, just let me take Luo Luo—"

"Zhou Younan! I’m busy right now!" Zhou Quan’s face darkened.

Lewd, wet sounds came from behind the desk.

Zhou Quan pointed at the door. "Get the hell out now, and I’ll let you see him one last time. Otherwise, don’t even think about meeting him before you leave."

The scent of gasoline—Zhou Quan’s pheromones—rapidly spread from his body, washing over Zhou Younan like a wave. Alphas only released such overwhelming pheromones during arousal or rut.

As an Omega, Zhou Younan stumbled out of the office in distress.

Shaking uncontrollably, he still punched the wall with all his strength.

The Zhou family had taken Luo Luo captive. There was no escape now.

*I want to inject the reagent into their veins!*

The violent thought came unbidden, startling him.

Once, he had suffered for a long time because of what he’d done with the reagent. Now, he was actually contemplating doing it again.

*I shouldn’t think like this.*

*I’m not a murderer.*

*I’m not...*

That night, Zhou Younan met Luo Luo in the quiet room.

"Brother!"

"Luo Luo!"

Zhou Younan hugged Luo Luo tightly, and Luo Luo wrapped his small arms around Zhou Younan’s neck.

Tears the size of peas rolled down Luo Luo’s cheeks as he sobbed, "Brother, they all said you abandoned me."

"I didn’t," Zhou Younan wiped Luo Luo’s tears. "They’re just lying bullies."

"Then can we leave together?" Luo Luo blinked his big eyes.

Zhou Younan managed a weak smile. "No."

Luo Luo’s lips trembled, about to cry again.

Zhou Younan quickly said, "Do you know why I have to leave alone?"

"Why?" Luo Luo asked pitifully.

"Because I’m going to marry a marshal."

Luo Luo, only five years old, asked in his tiny voice, "What’s a marshal? Is it tasty? What’s marrying? Why is brother marrying a marshal?"

"A marshal isn’t food. He’s a very powerful person," Zhou Younan explained.

"The most powerful person," Luo Luo tilted his head, eyes full of curiosity. "More powerful than Qike?"

"The marshal is a hundred times stronger than Qike."

"Then will he protect you?" Luo Luo asked again.

Zhou Younan gave a stiff nod.

"Great! Now big brother will be protected too!" Luo Luo cheered.

Zhou Younan held his small hand and instructed, "Luo Luo, stay at school and don't go anywhere with strangers. Big brother will come to get you as soon as possible, understand?"

"Okay, I'll be good, stay at school and not go out."

"Good boy."

Luo Luo took out an old-fashioned tin from his pocket and gave it to Zhou Younan: "Big brother, this is for you. Eat one when you miss Luo Luo. They're very sweet."

Zhou Younan's nose tingled slightly: "You must wait for big brother to come back for you."

"Mhm, big brother, you must take care of yourself too. Eat on time, sleep on time, and be happy!"

***

Seven days later, Zhou Younan found himself on board the April, a spaceship headed for the imperial capital planet Canbera.

His luggage was simple—some daily clothes, a pile of low-grade nutrient packs, and the antique rectangular iron box Luo Luo had given him.

Taking out a candy from the iron box, a faint sweetness spread across his tongue. His bruises had completely healed, only hurting when pressed hard.

This pain meant nothing to Zhou Younan; he had witnessed far darker things.

Turning to gaze out the window at the vast, boundless starry sky, the blackness spread like a curtain, speckled with planets of various sizes and shapes.

What were those planets like?

Suddenly, the ship shook violently, and Zhou Younan heard Captain Fei Li's voice over the intercom: "We're encountering an electromagnetic storm. Passengers, please remain calm."

Five minutes later, the announcement changed: "The April will temporarily dock at Gonggong Port for minor repairs."

"The April will temporarily dock at Gonggong Port..."

The announcement began repeating as small escort ships flashed past the window. As the April continued its flight, Zhou Younan saw more and more small ships, each no bigger than a candy, formed in neat vertical columns of ten at the port.

Some of these ships were affected by the electromagnetic storm and needed temporary docking, while others were queuing for spatial jumps.

Gonggong Port was one of the empire's largest ports. Since the empire's founding, a wormhole jump point for spatial jumps had been established here.

Spatial jumps required payment. Traveling from the Zhou family's planet Yaoxing to the imperial capital Canbera at the speed of sound took only a week, making jumps unnecessary.

As the small ships passed by, the view was suddenly blocked by a towering black wall.

The pure black wall loomed close to the April, no more than a hundred meters away, radiating overwhelming pressure.

Upon closer inspection, Zhou Younan realized it wasn't a wall—it was a corner of a military mothership.

The colossal mothership was entirely black, its hull adorned with mechanically aesthetic lines and components, radiating majesty and solemnity. Dozens of soldiers in maintenance exo-suits swarmed over the hull like diligent bees.

The April was a massive passenger ship capable of transporting tens of thousands, larger than most spacecraft. Yet before this super mothership, it seemed like a three-year-old child.

It took a good fifteen minutes for the April to travel from the mothership's stern to its bow. In the distance, Zhou Younan spotted a massive red droplet-shaped emblem painted on the bow.

The bright red droplet resembled a drop of blood, vivid against the darkness of space. Its smooth, rounded lines were fluid and graceful, yet they represented violence and bloodshed—arrogant and domineering.

A nickname popped into Zhou Younan's mind: "Blood Droplet." This was the nickname given to Imperial Marshal Wei Qing, the man he was soon to marry.

After Wei Qing earned the title "Blood Droplet," his forces became known as the Blood Droplet Army. Though the empire was currently at peace with the federation, internal threats including space pirates and external dangers like the insectoids persisted. The Blood Droplet Army frequently achieved victories, making them the emperor's elite force.

Zhou Younan suddenly recalled that the exo-suits of the soldiers working outside the mothership earlier had all borne the same bright red droplet emblem.

He'd expected to wait another week to meet the marshal who would become his husband, but now, at Gonggong Port, he might encounter him sooner.

Zhou Younan had searched for Wei Qing's image on his personal terminal—blond hair, green eyes, perpetually scowling.

What stood out most was the teardrop-shaped tattoo beneath Wei Qing's eyes, matching the emblem on the mothership, except the tattoo was black instead of red.

The black ink made him look dangerous.

Wei Qing's homeworld was unknown, his birthdate unclear, and his educational background classified.

The publicly available records showed he graduated from the empire's top-tier military academy, Sips, where he held the record for the fastest planetary orbit in a mech.

The rest of the file detailed Wei Qing's achievements and commendations in various battles.

The most notable was the Battle of Tenglong Valley six years ago, the decisive campaign that destroyed an insectoid nest.

During that battle, Wei Qing's alpha gland was damaged. Since then, he had become asexual—an Alpha unaffected by Omegas in heat.

Did this mean he might be unable to claim a mate?

Zhou Younan considered this might actually be good.

Wei Qing was a decorated young marshal with outstanding military merits. Were Zhou Younan just a civilian, he might've admired and supported Marshal Wei Qing.

But he was about to become this marshal's third wife. From a spouse's perspective, the marshal was not a good husband.

Zhou Younan sighed deeply. His future now entirely depended on Wei Qing's opinion of him.

The unknown filled him with dread.

All he could do was clutch the tin tightly. No matter what, he had to keep his promise and retrieve Luo Luo.

Meanwhile, on Gonggong.

Wei Qing was at the controls of a mech in pursuit of a space pirate ship. The pirates launched seeker missiles, trying to shoot him down.

Firing counter-missiles, Wei Qing destroyed the incoming projectiles.

"Damn these bastards!" Wei Qing cursed. "Still running? You won't escape!"

"Marshal," came the voice of General Henry through the mech's comms, "please remember you're currently piloting an agricultural mech."

"So what?" Wei Qing detached the anti-missile mechanical pack from the mech's back.

"Marshal, charging in without the anti-missile system—"

Wei Qing cut off the communication, ignoring the rest. Pushing the mech's engine to maximum, he shot toward the pirate ship like a meteor.

Stripped of all defenses, the agricultural mech trembled violently at the extreme speed, as if it might fall apart any second.

Ditching all excess weight, Wei Qing quickly closed the distance under overspeed. He saw the pirate pilot's eyes widen in terror.

Ejected from the mech, Wei Qing leaped through the void and landed on the pirate ship.

All mechs had an emergency ejection function for pilots to escape in crises. Yet this madman had used it to board another ship!

"Lunatic!" The pirate inside frantically drew his weapon, aiming to shoot Wei Qing dead.

The space pirates drew their guns, but Wei Qing's draw was faster than any of them.

After boarding the ship, he grabbed onto a protruding part with one hand to steady himself, then drew the plasma pistol holstered at his waist with the other.

His long hair whipped through the air, some strands flying across his face, but Wei Qing was so familiar with the pistol that it didn't hinder him.

Even with his vision partially obscured, the shot was steady and precise, striking the pilot dead center—a small, slightly charred hole appearing between his eyebrows.

With a few quick shots, all the pirates in the cockpit were swiftly eliminated.

Wei Qing shattered the cockpit glass and agilely slipped inside. Shoving the dead pilot's body aside, he seized the controls and reestablished contact with Henry.

Henry, well-versed in Wei Qing's signature recklessness, consoled himself—at least this time, only one farming mech got wrecked.

"Marshal, a ship named the April has requested landing on Gonggong Star. The captain says," Henry paused, "the captain says your fiancée's on board."

"Fiancée?" Wei Qing's voice dripped with confusion. "Who?"