Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"This is the public channel," the unfamiliar voice announced, and Jiang Shixu instantly felt a wave of discomfort.

How could this be happening?

He had only seen a single horn!

Now, he sat in his chair like a startled quail, genuinely afraid to touch anything. He even felt a strange regret for having believed the online gossip. What was there to praise about this situation?

But before Jiang Shixu could dwell on his predicament, he heard a gentle voice in his ear. The other person seemed completely unfazed by the social awkwardness, patiently explaining, "I'm on my way to you now. The private chat is in the upper left corner—yes, click it, and you'll see a row of avatars. Just select me."

Jiang Shixu obediently followed the instructions, quickly found "Blue Star Flower," and happily opened their private chat. He pressed the voice message button, pondered for a moment, unsure what to say, and then simply sent an emoji:

【Hello (little bird holding a rose jpg)】

The voice in his ear seemed to carry a hint of amusement. As if concerned he might be bored, the other party began guiding him remotely: "Click the upper right corner—yes, open it, and you'll be able to see outside. This map is a meteorite starfield."

"Wow," Jiang Shixu pressed closer to the transparent cockpit canopy. This was his first time seeing the starry sky from outside a starship, and even though it was a holographic simulation, it felt incredibly real and beautiful.

He fiddled around a bit and, though he didn't understand all the buttons, managed to find the chat interface.

Huh, you can even watch live streams?

This looked clickable. Confident, Jiang Shixu clicked it and saw a flood of comments swiftly passing before his eyes:

[First-person view, here I come!]

[Huh? Ah!? I was wondering who this glaring target was... It's a cat onesie! Never mind then.]

[You call that never mind!? Not to be rude, but Blazing Heart, you've really slipped up. Even if you're pulling in a random temporary player, you shouldn't pick a newbie, right? This outfit doesn't look serious at all.]

Frowning, Jiang Shixu quickly closed the stream.

Good, no more annoying comments.

He found the chat areas he'd located earlier: one blue for his own faction and one yellow for the public channel.

The blue faction seemed to be constantly sending messages:

【Xi Lesheng (Commander): 1 and 10, intercept. 3 and 5, lure them. 6 and 7, head to logistics. There's a starship at nine o'clock.

Xi Lesheng (Commander): The enemy is charging toward 2 and 8. 8 probably can't pilot and isn't moving. 2, rescue them if you can. If possible, take cover in the starship—don't feed kills right at the start.

Xi Lesheng (Commander): But don't worry, we're chill. We said we're just filling spots, so it's fine if you feed, though it might not give you two the best experience.

Blue Star Flower (Support): Received.】

Seeing Xie Hantang's message, Jiang Shixu instantly perked up. He scanned the messages up and down and suddenly realized—

That stationary number 8 was probably him.

And number 2 was Xie Hantang?

He was coming to find him.

Jiang Shixu was thrilled, but they kept mentioning the starship… Was there something special about it?

Take cover.

Jiang Shixu rotated his perspective and soon spotted the outline of the starship. Now the question was, how was he supposed to move the mech toward it?

【Yarnball: Xie Hantang, do you know how to move positions? (crying bird jpg)

Blue Star Flower: What's your full-control psychic power level? There's a percentage display in the lower right corner.

Yarnball: 100%?

Blue Star Flower: That's impressive. Just imagine you are the mech—whatever action you think of, the mech will perform.

Yarnball: Huh, seems pretty easy! (excited jpg)

Blue Star Flower: Yes, with high full-control psychic power, you barely need the virtual keyboard. Really amazing (sending a little flower jpg)

Yarnball: (hands on hips)】

Jiang Shixu was thrilled. Xie Hantang had praised him! And the mech didn't seem that difficult after all!

He thought about it, and aside from moving in a slightly awkward manner, the mech was indeed moving toward the starship.

He just kept bumping into meteors if he wasn't careful—way too risky.

-

On the other side, after instructing Jiang Shixu, Xie Hantang kept operating without stopping. The mechs of the Empire and the Federation were largely similar, and the familiar design allowed him to get the hang of it quickly.

In the Empire, although military females possessed formidable combat strength and feared no cosmic pressures, mechs—as a military tool—were also actively promoted.

He still remembered what his commanding officer had said back then:

"Yes, we have powerful physiques and unyielding spirits, but a good mech allows us to face mortal threats only at the very last moment—"

"But in reality, military females aren't that proficient with mechs. The more advanced the mech, the higher the demand for psychic power. And if military females had sufficiently high psychic power, what would we need male insects for?"

As if suddenly recalling that scene from the past, Xie Hantang realized for the first time how vivid his memory was. Almost as soon as the officer finished speaking, a military female chuckled and said, "Sir, you haven't joined the resistance, have you?"

"Who knows? But history shows no success anyway, right? Speaking of which, high difficulty? How could that be?"

But in reality, all the military females were quickly proven wrong.

Mechs weren't actually difficult—their quick minds and strong muscle memory allowed them to adapt quickly. The real problem was—

Full psychic control.

There were two ways to operate a mech: one was full psychic control, which involved syncing psychic power with the mech to achieve a state of unity between insect and machine; the other relied on operating a virtual keyboard, inputting complex symbols and expressions to transmit commands for the mech's movements.

But most military females couldn't achieve such high levels of psychic power. Years spent in cosmic environments and the pressures of insectification made it impossible for them to overuse their psychic abilities.

So, whenever that happened, they would hear their superiors say earnestly, "If it really doesn't work… find a male insect. They're sweet and soft—quite nice, actually."

They really were sweet and soft. Xie Hantang thought of Jiang Shixu and couldn't help but smile. No wonder everyone wanted to rack up military achievements quickly and get married—

But even male insects… or Omegas—very few could achieve 100% full psychic control. Most military females could manage over 50%, and combined with strong muscle memory, that was enough to become invincible in a mech.

He wondered how psychic power was calculated in this world.

...Anyway, in every sense, this ABO world was quite complicated.

Xie Hantang knew he had only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg, but he didn't mind. More than that, he was concerned about his usual streak of bad luck. Not only was he assigned to the farthest diagonal from Jiang Shixu, but they were also in the crossfire between both sides.

It seriously slowed down his progress in reaching his little Omega.

Xie Hantang's slender fingers danced like blurs across the virtual keyboard, while his Psync rate was clearly displayed in the corner of the panel: 85%.

【Xi Lesheng (Commander): Bro? Your partner seems talented! Honestly, is this an AA relationship? Don't worry, I don't discriminate against AA couples! (dog head emoji)】

【Xi Lesheng (Commander): Wait, bro, what are you doing!? Why are you rushing into our sector?!】

Xie Hantang nimbly piloted the butterfly-like mech, its elegant wings sharp as blades, grazing past the battling mechs ahead. Amid the crisp sounds of clashing metal, he grabbed a long-range photon-wing energy gun from the rear of the cockpit and aimed it directly at the enemy mech—scoring a direct cockpit hit!

"Boom!"

Almost instantly, seizing the moment the enemy was distracted, Xie Hantang hit the thrusters, zipping agilely to strike the next mech.

【Xi Lesheng (Commander): …】

【Xi Lesheng (Commander): You could've gone around.】

【Blue Star Flower (Support): The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.】

In another mech cockpit, a red-haired youth scratched his head, watching the random player effortlessly break his teammate out of an encirclement before swiftly retreating.

Has some skills, but not much.

Is that how you're supposed to use "the shortest distance"!? Don't get so lovesick, bro!

Then, glancing at the bird-like mech playing hide-and-seek in the distance, he noticed it had already slipped aboard the starship thanks to its exceptional full-control capabilities.

The more you chase, the farther it gets.

Hmm… impressive. This must be one of those baffling couple antics.

Xi Lesheng felt like he'd stumbled upon some over-the-top drama, but since he was still in the midst of battle, he didn't dwell on it. He quickly ended the private chat with the random player and refocused on leading his team against the enemy.

-

Xie Hantang realized he was getting closer to Yarnball's mech.

Good news: Mech No. 8 wasn't being ambushed; it had hidden first.

Bad news: It seemed to be stuck inside the starship.

After circling the massive starship for the third time, Xie Hantang finally gave up on his persistent idea. He silently leaped out of the mech cockpit and landed inside the starship.

[I thought I'd finally get to see what's really going on… What's with this mascot costume? (confused emoji) So many new things today—I must've entered Starsea the wrong way.]

[Kinda cool, but not really. Instead of flexing your skills in the combat zone, you're here playing hide-and-seek with that guy?]

[Compared to the other side… it's like they're from different worlds. Well, they literally are. Blue Star Flower is smarter than Yarnball—at least he knows you can't pilot a mech into a starship… So, bro Yarnball, if you hadn't turned off the stream, we could've warned you! (facepalm)]

[…But still, with Yarnball's level of full control, his family's genes must be exceptional, right? (envy)]

[Blue Star Flower looks pretty cool, but don't you have a bit too much favoritism for butterflies? And, oh my god, finally getting to see what's under Yarnball's bird mech…]

[This cat mascot suit! Okay, folks, scatter. So these two are actually a couple.]

[Say it with me: Blazing Heart feels desolate!]

[Say it with me: Blazing Heart, why do you feel desolate!? (yelling emoji)]

…

Xie Hantang glanced at the comments and finally understood why the other was stuck. Although in reality, mechs are stored in dedicated compartments on starships, Starsea, being a competitive game, doesn't offer that luxury.

You can scavenge for support weapons and resources on the starship, but the catch is you have to exit your mech, leaving yourself exposed. If your combat skills are even slightly lacking, it's a perfect opportunity for the enemy to take you out.

But Xie Hantang wasn't concerned.

What he cared about was that "hide-and-seek" had turned into actual hide-and-seek—he couldn't find Jiang Shixu.

But… this was a starship after all.

Without hesitation, Xie Hantang hurried to the starship's command room. Accompanied by the voice in his ear—"Identity verified. First login. Recognized as starship commander"—he entered the spacious, well-lit command center.

A virtual panel hovered in mid-air. Xie Hantang quickly navigated it, located the surveillance feed, and found Jiang Shixu's position.

Stuck at the bottom of the starship—

At the bottom of the starship's hull, where mechs deploy, a familiar white bird mech was struggling with its wings, looking shaky and unsteady.

Xie Hantang paused for a moment. Getting stuck in a place like that… in a sense, that's talent.

After a moment's thought, Xie Hantang quickly cut the livestream. Now that he no longer needed it for information, there was no reason to let outsiders keep watching.

[???]

[Using us and then tossing us aside… Let me just say—]

With a clear goal in mind, Xie Hantang easily reached where the white bird mech was stuck and soon heard Jiang Shixu's cheerful voice, "You're here."

"Yeah, I'm here. Let me figure this out," Xie Hantang circled the white bird mech, first turning the cockpit around, then hesitantly asked Jiang Shixu, "Is it okay if we share one mech?"

The way it was stuck was just too tricky! The mech was probably a lost cause.

Jiang Shixu gazed at the young man's handsome features and immediately his eyes sparkled. "Sure."

He couldn't have asked for more.

Watching as the other quickly broke open the cockpit and carefully helped him out, Jiang Shixu spoke a bit sheepishly, "I didn't know this spot would get stuck."

It was just his first time piloting, and it was so slick—he didn't have time to react and crashed!

"But you're amazing."

Might as well compliment him first.

Jiang Shixu was quite pleased with his own maneuvering. As he watched the tall, handsome Alpha hop down from the mech, his slender hand holding Jiang Shixu's, his eyes slightly lowered, he asked, "Can I call you my Alpha?"

Xie Hantang also began to realize something—Jiang Shixu seemed to have some interest in him too, which meant his homework paid off.

So, first, clarify his courting signals, then secure his military credentials!

What did he just call him…?

Jiang Shixu stared at their interlocked fingers, his mind going blank.

What kind of Alpha… SM or DS or something?!

Was that even a word he should be hearing?

Jiang Shixu looked in horror at the young man's bright gaze, but the words that slipped out were—

"Did you turn off the livestream?"

He blushed!

Aah...

"It's disconnected," Xie Hantang seemed puzzled. He looked at their intertwined hands, still warm from the touch—it was the little Omega who had initiated it. He thought the other was also interested... Had he misunderstood?

But he didn't want to let go...

After a brief internal struggle, Xie Hantang paused briefly before deciding to try a more subtle approach. "Then... may I call you 'Master'?"

Jiang Shixu: ...

Who's calling who 'Master'?

Where is he? Is this even the Federation anymore?

Is this what "being direct" means!?

Jiang Shixu was completely flustered. He... although he wanted to pursue Xie Hantang, he couldn't handle such weird kinks just yet. He was a conservative Omega.

Unconsciously, Jiang Shixu let go of their linked hands without even realizing it, and naturally didn't notice the somewhat disappointed expression on the Alpha's face beside him.

His mind was already flooded...

So it turned out—

Xie Hantang, this seemingly serious and proper person, not only liked Blue Star Flower and butterflies, but also had a taste for strange, taboo kinks!

What to do? The person he's pursuing... he'd have to pursue him on his knees.

It's normal for people to have their own little quirks...

Right?

After all, the other party had even gone so far as to make him wear a muzzle in public—so maybe being called "Master" was also...

No, no, he couldn't let himself be led astray. Hadn't he already suffered enough public humiliation!?

Jiang Shixu was on the verge of tears. Just as he was about to clear his foggy head, he heard the Alpha beside him speak again, gently and carefully, like he might scare a shy animal:

"Then... may I call you Xu Xu?"

Xie Hantang was afraid the little Omega would reject even this, but using his full name was too formal—he wanted a more special nickname.

He hoped the young Omega would agree.