Chapter 109: Kill You

Chapter 109: You're Done For

The next morning, Song Yuqing awoke to find Pei Huai still there, crouched before Mei Qiu, poking the cat's head. "Qingqing is your mom, and I'm your dad. Got it?"

"Dad's off to earn military honors for you and Mom. You stay home, guard your mom, and don't let any other alpha sweet-talk her away."

"For instance, if another alpha comes looking for Qingqing, you make some noise."

Mei Qiu was poked so hard by Pei Huai that it toppled over.

Song Yuqing leaned against the doorframe, watching the alpha with a hint of amusement. "Who told you you're Mei Qiu's father? Did Qi Zhengqing say anything?"

"Mei Qiu was brought here by Qi Zhengqing."

The moment Pei Huai heard this, he wanted to toss Mei Qiu out. He couldn't help but feel Qi Zhengqing was cunning, placing a cat by Song Yuqing's side, constantly reminding Song Yuqing of him.

No. He'd have Lan Balun sent over as well.

Even if the stupid snake was brazen, it was clingy and hard to ignore.

And Song Yuqing had raised it himself, so there was some affection there.

Pei Huai's every move was observed by Song Yuqing, who prompted him, "Stepdad, hurry up and leave. Stop lingering."

Pei Huai: "..."

Alright, alright. He was being treated like the wicked stepdad now.

Pei Huai turned to look at his just-woken wife, and the anger he felt about being the wicked stepdad quickly dissipated.

Song Yuqing's eyelashes lowered slightly, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touching his eyes, melting his usual aloofness and adding a touch of gentle warmth.

Just standing there, watching him, filled Pei Huai with warmth.

Pei Huai strode over to Song Yuqing, hugged him, and kissed his cheek. "I'm leaving. Take care of yourself."

Song Yuqing: "Mhm."

Song Yuqing went to Ye Siling's lab, where Ye Siling was leading a project. Professor Lin was also involved in the development of military robots.

The project was in its final stages.

The military robots adopted a mecha design, though they were far from the interstellar era, where mechas could perform jump drives.

Currently, their robots only employed a human-machine integration combat mode, where an alpha inside the robot would be protected by its shell, with the robot exponentially amplifying the alpha's combat capabilities.

This significantly enhanced a single soldier's combat effectiveness.

In the final phase, extensive simulated training was conducted daily to identify the robots' vulnerabilities, ensuring they wouldn't have fatal weaknesses on the battlefield.

Song Yuqing: "Professor, the material here seems inadequate? It could lead to malfunctions."

No one was more familiar with robot materials than Song Yuqing. When creating No. 6, he had personally tested hundreds of metal types.

Ye Siling was logging data when he suddenly heard Song Yuqing's voice. He turned abruptly, his gaze pausing on Song Yuqing.

His eyes held a trace of a smile.

Ye Siling came over casually, standing beside Song Yuqing. "Where's the material inadequate? Let me see."

Professor Lin: "..."

Ugh, Ye Siling, you cunning fox.

He had previously pointed out that the material here was insufficient, but when he raised the issue, Ye Siling had been stubborn and told him to stay out of it.

There was no way Ye Siling, at his level, couldn't see the problem here.

Now that Song Yuqing was here, Ye Siling was suddenly eager to learn.

This was clearly aimed at his star pupil—making a play for Qingqing.

Cunning fox.

Professor Lin cursed again in his mind but gave them some space.

Romantic affairs were beyond his control. As mentor and peers, Song Yuqing’s looks and abilities were too dazzling. It wasn’t hard to understand why Ye Siling liked him.

Besides, their Qingqing was so outstanding—what was wrong with seeing a few alphas?

Qi Zhengqing was going to die anyway. Rather than letting Song Yuqing mourn when Qi Zhengqing died, it was better for him to find a few alphas now to distract himself later.

Song Yuqing held a pencil, sketching on the design blueprint. "This part won’t work."

As he sketched, he explained to Ye Siling, "This material lacks sufficient strength. It could fracture or deform under high-intensity movement or impact."

Ye Siling played along. "I didn’t notice that before. I have too many things to oversee."

"Without you, I’m a bit overwhelmed."

A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at Song Yuqing’s lips. "You’re a bit incompetent."

Ye Siling: "..."

The underlying message: he was more capable.

Ye Siling struggled to suppress a smile. Even after all these years since graduation, his junior was still so... adorable.

Still so obsessed with his own skills.

But Song Yuqing certainly had the credentials. In the early days of the lab, all the technology had been provided by Song Yuqing.

Even most of the researchers here were trained by him. Who among the researchers didn’t respectfully address him as Teacher Song?

"Incompetent? Then Teacher Song should spare me more time. Come around more often during the debugging phase." Ye Siling’s tone remained even, his ulterior motives well hidden.

Song Yuqing: "Mhm."

He had planned to come more often recently anyway. Once the debugging was done, they could move into production.

Followed by training—perfect.

Song Yuqing spent the entire afternoon observing the robot debugging.

Ye Siling thoroughly enjoyed this alone time with Song Yuqing. He and his junior were soulmates, sharing the same interests and passions.

It was a bond that couldn’t be compared to those relationships built only on desire, devoid of true affection.

"Teacher Song, is this material acceptable?"

Ye Siling was lost in thought. He and Song Yuqing had entered matrimony due to their shared interests, and it was only on their wedding day that he would kiss Song Yuqing.

Turning his head, he saw Song Yuqing surrounded by a crowd of alphas.

Song Yuqing lowered his head, carefully reviewing some alpha's proposal, and nodded, "Hmm, this material could be tested later."

"Teacher Ye just didn't think of it at the moment. He’ll definitely do better next time," the alpha said loudly, his voice clearly reaching Ye Siling’s ears.

Ye Siling: "..."

Professor Lin shook his head as he watched from the side. This Ye Siling really wasn’t cutting it—paving the way for others only to be overshadowed by other alphas. No good, absolutely no good.

"Have you finished recording the data? Is the simulation training plan finalized? Do you have time to crowd around here and discuss projects that have nothing to do with you?" Ye Siling’s gaze swept over the group of alphas surrounding Song Yuqing, each word icy and intimidating. "Get back to your stations!"

Song Yuqing looked up at Ye Siling. Their eyes met, and Ye Siling grasped his hand.

"I still have details to discuss with you. Let's go inside to talk."

Song Yuqing nodded and reminded Ye Siling, "Let go."

The two left the training ground one after the other and went to Song Yuqing’s lounge.

"What details do you want to discuss?"

As soon as they entered, Ye Siling, who had come in last, closed the door. Song Yuqing merely glanced at the closed door without saying a word, his calm gaze resting on Ye Siling’s face.

Ye Siling stared at Song Yuqing, the confidence in his eyes completely gone. After hesitating a few times, he finally spoke, "It’s not that I don’t know which material to choose."

"I just wanted to talk to you more and spend a little more time with you."

"Hmm." Song Yuqing nodded slightly, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow over his eyelids. "I know what you're up to."

"But I don’t mind."

Ye Siling was also surprised, his mind racing to organize the reasons for Song Yuqing’s indulgence toward his behavior.

From his perspective, endlessly indulging someone’s mistakes could only mean one thing: liking.

People are biased, and he fully agreed with that. After all, when other researchers made mistakes, he would simply think they were fools.

But if Song Yuqing made a mistake, he would find his junior brother utterly adorable.

Song Yuqing indulging his tricks in front of him probably meant he had some affection for him.

Noticing the unreadable look in the alpha’s eyes, Song Yuqing: "..."

Song Yuqing promptly stopped Ye Siling, "Don’t think about wild ideas."

Ye Siling: "..."

"I quite like your mistakes. Switching the material slightly will make it more deceptive."

Ye Siling’s mistakes were quite useful. When he returned to Xinzhou, the stream of people probing for information never stopped. After laying low for so long, it was time to let them have a little "sweet treat," wasn’t it?

Song Yuqing lowered his head again, pointing to a spot on the design. "Look here. Just use the material that alpha mentioned earlier. Mark it on your design and use it during production."

Ye Siling frowned. He couldn’t immediately see the issue with the material, but his intuition told him something was off.

"Was that alpha suspicious?"

"Not necessarily. It’s the most suitable material someone of his level could find."

"Monitor him closely. Last time, the problem originated from your side. If he really is suspicious, we’ll go along with it." Song Yuqing’s fingers lightly brushed the paper.

If it was another group behind this, they would likely be aiming for one of two outcomes.

First, tampering with the robots so that a large number of them would malfunction during military training, causing injuries to alphas and sowing discord between him and the military district. This could be the work of someone within Xinzhou or from another district.

Second, the robots might not malfunction during training, but their weaknesses could be exploited by the enemy during actual combat.

Both scenarios would result in significant losses for him.

By changing the material and running simulations, he could likely identify which faction was behind it.

Of course, it was also possible that their internal personnel were simply at that level—adequate but not skilled.

Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. Paying attention to small details could help avoid unexpected incidents.

Too many people wanted to meddle in his affairs.

"Ye Siling."

Song Yuqing looked up and realized Ye Siling was standing very close to him, his hand reaching past Song Yuqing’s waist to rest on the table.

This distance had already crossed social boundaries, bordering on ambiguity.

Ye Siling lowered his head, his gaze intense yet focused, and raised his hand, holding his hand up to Song Yuqing’s face.

Song Yuqing: "?"

"What are you doing?" Song Yuqing looked at Ye Siling in confusion, not quite understanding his actions.

Ye Siling stared at that exquisitely porcelain-like face. His hand could easily cover most of Song Yuqing’s face, making him wonder if his own hand was just too large.

*A delicate porcelain figure.*

Ye Siling thought.

Ye Siling stared at Song Yuqing and shared his observation, "You have a small face. I could cover it with one hand."

As if he needed an alpha’s protection.

Song Yuqing: "..."

Song Yuqing’s eyelashes lifted slightly, revealing a cool gaze. "You're being ridiculous."

"Did you hear what I said earlier?"

Ye Siling: "Hmm, I heard. I think you need an alpha’s protection. If it were me, I’d definitely use the most straightforward way to deal with you."

Song Yuqing tilted his head slightly to look at Ye Siling. "Hmm?"

Ye Siling: "Of course, I’d just kill you directly."

When their positions were destined to be opposed, and the other person possessed absolute strength, the best approach was to take them out, so their talents die with them.

Song Yuqing: "..."

88: "Qingqing, he had the same idea as you."

Aside from strong personal feelings, Song Yuqing killed Hakimi because they were naturally opposed in stance and Hakimi was an obstacle to his plans, so Song Yuqing did not hesitate at all to eliminate him.

Of course, politicians in the Sri Lanka region might also have the same idea.

If Song Yuqing's defenses are ironclad, wouldn't killing Song Yuqing seem more effective?

Song Yuqing commented on Ye Siling, "Ruthless."

Ye Siling lowered his eyes and spoke seriously, "He's ruthless toward others, but toward you, it’s about preventing problems before they happen."

"You're like a porcelain doll, who needs an alpha to protect you."

Author's Note:

The Masked Guy: Choose me, my babe, I’ll protect you.

88: Song Qingqing is a delicate little porcelain doll. Do you know who killed Hakimi? Oh, you don’t—you’re still taking selfies at Hakimi’s burial site.

Song Qingqing: Oh, this one hasn't been beaten badly enough yet.