Chapter 77 Docking

Chapter 77: Docking

Back in their room, the two began sorting through their belongings.

The ration packs were enough for a week for both of them. The books were a random assortment—some on astronomy, some novels, and even equipment manuals, along with a small portable media player and a pile of stored discs nearby.

Titles like *Where Can the Rich Family's Darling Wife Escape To?*, *The Empire's Marshal Falls for Me*, *The Movie Emperor's White Moonlight Returns Home*, and *My Best Friend Turns Out to Be an Alpha?*...

After skimming a few titles, they pointedly avoided looking at each other. In silent agreement, they took out a few books and the ration packs, then closed the box.

It was past eight o'clock. Ji Anzhi hadn't had a proper wash in a while, and now with the facilities available, he wanted to clean up properly. Picking up his toiletries, Ji Anzhi entered the bathroom.

Qi Yanshen calmly charged his personal terminal, then picked up a book he had just taken out, staring straight at it, though in reality, his attention was entirely on the sounds from the bathroom.

Common sense and his upbringing told him he shouldn't be doing this, but his thoughts drifted uncontrollably in that direction. After wrestling with himself a few times, Qi Yanshen finally surrendered, lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, going over their plans for what came next.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened. Qi Yanshen covered his eyes with his arm, determined to wait until Ji Anzhi was in bed before going to shower himself. But within seconds, Qi Yanshen heard Xiaoxue's meow. Judging by the footsteps, Ji Anzhi had likely caught Xiaoxue and taken her into the bathroom.

Seconds later, a distressed cry came from the bathroom, accompanied by the faint sound of Ji Anzhi's soothing voice...

He was jealous of that cat.

This thought suddenly appeared in Qi Yanshen's mind. This time, he could admit to himself that he indeed liked Ji Anzhi; otherwise, he wouldn't have had such a thought.

When Ji Anzhi came out wearing a bathrobe, Xiaoxue was finally freed. Her dried white fur was all puffed up, making her look like a fluffy ball. She hid in a corner, muttering complaints under her breath.

Ji Anzhi found Qi Anzhen lying on the sofa, bent down, and called out, "I'm done. Do you want to go wash up?"

Qi Yanshen automatically lowered his arm and looked up. He saw Ji Anzhi's long hair hanging down in front of him, with a few strands clinging to his collarbone from the moisture. Looking further down, he could see the fair skin of Ji Anzhi's chest, tinged with a faint pink. Combined with Ji Anzhi's natural expression, Qi Yanshen was mortified...

Qi Yanshen moved his arm back over his eyes, trying hard not to reveal his inappropriate thoughts, and calmly said, "I'll rest for a bit and go wash up later."

"Oh, okay."

With that, Ji Anzhi straightened up and got into bed, while inwardly teasing Qi Yanshen for being so easily flustered. It was the first time he had seen someone whose face remained unchanged while their ears and neck flushed bright red in an instant.

Lying in bed, Ji Anzhi soon fell into a deep sleep. The medication developed by Qi Yanshen's father had run out the previous week. Without the medication, he felt much better, but his body was still prone to fatigue. Coupled with having just taken a bath, a soft, clinging drowsiness settled over him.

Tiptoeing, Qi Yanshen went to wash up, finishing in two minutes. As he came out, he inadvertently glanced toward Ji Anzhi's side and saw Xiaoxue jump onto the bed, kneading on Ji Anzhi's chest...

Qi Yanshen walked to the bedside with an expressionless face, intending to catch Xiaoxue and take her down. Before he could act, Xiaoxue beat him to it, burrowed under the covers, and hid beside Ji Anzhi, revealing a pair of watery, helpless, and innocent big eyes. Qi Yanshen had no choice but to silently lie back down on the sofa.

Lying back on the sofa, Qi Yanshen felt inexplicably irritable. In the end, he simply put on headphones, picked up his personal terminal, and watched previously downloaded course videos. It wasn't until midnight that he felt sleepy and finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

...

The next day, Qi Yanshen woke up promptly at six.

Glancing toward Ji Anzhi's side, he was still sound asleep. Xiaoxue was even arrogantly making a nest on top of Ji Anzhi's head, looking completely trusting and comfortable.

Averting his eyes, Qi Yanshen left the room, found the training room, and began his physical training. He hadn't trained for nearly a month and couldn't afford to fall behind.

Meanwhile, Ji Anzhi woke up leisurely two hours after Qi Yanshen left. The reason he woke up was because Xiaoxue had forcefully patted him awake.

Previously on the planet, Qi Yanshen had fed Xiaoxue meat. Today, there was no meat, and Xiaoxue didn't like the ration packs, so she hadn't eaten anything. By past eight o'clock, she was so hungry she couldn't stand it anymore and finally patted her caretaker awake for food.

Getting up with a headache, seeing Xiaoxue gently biting his finger to indicate hunger, Ji Anzhi repeated to himself over and over in his mind.

This is the master I raised myself. I can't hit her or abandon her. She's not human; I can't expect her to express her needs through words like a person. Besides, she never had a mother growing up. She only has me. I can't let her be an insecure furball...

After brainwashing himself, Ji Anzhi got out of bed, took out a ration pack, opened it, and poured it into a small bowl. Xiaoxue sniffed it, looked pitifully at Ji Anzhi, who remained unmoved. In the end, Xiaoxue yielded to his stern insistence and lapped up the ration.

After feeding Xiaoxue, Ji Anzhi was fully awake. He sat down at the table and continued researching the starship modifications.

The design process for the modifications was almost complete. What remained was mainly the practical implementation to see if it matched expectations. If the process went smoothly, he could complete all the starship modifications before advancing to the third year.

For the next few days, Ji Anzhi continued planning the modifications. Qi Yanshen spent his days almost entirely in the training room, clearly avoiding Ji Anzhi. Ji Anzhi had no particular thoughts about this; he didn't mind. Besides, even if he did have thoughts, what could he do? It would only be asking for trouble.

The captain also let the two of them do as they pleased. Her ship hadn't been this lively in over twenty years. Now, suddenly having two kids on board—good-looking and not causing trouble—she could even amuse herself by secretly watching the training room feed. How wonderful.

It's just that this alpha kid was probably a student from some small military academy. He was clearly an S-class alpha, and judging by his explosive power and endurance during training, he should be a student from one of the Federal Military Academies she knew.

If these two kids really were, then the probability of her getting paid was quite high. Federal Military Academy students generally had strong morals and a sense of commitment; they wouldn't do things like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs or burning bridges after crossing the river.

The woman spent the next ten-plus days leisurely and contentedly. This stellar region had no Bug Swarm, and there were few various storms. As long as they maintained a slow speed, they could safely exit.

On the nineteenth day, Ji Anzhi discovered that his personal terminal had connected to the StarNet signal. Although it was very weak, it meant they were almost out of this dangerous region and could contact the military academy and the Legion.

Ji Anzhi kept this joy to himself. This signal was only stable because he had a signal amplifier. Possession is nine-tenths of the problem; it was better not to expose himself.

A day later, the captain came to inform them that they had connected to the StarNet signal and would be out of the dangerous region the next day or the day after, telling them to pack up.

The next day, warships that had received the message in advance were stationed at the exit of the region. To avoid frightening the woman, except for one small starship that did not activate stealth mode, all others were hidden in space.

As soon as they exited the dangerous region, they came face-to-face with a warship. The woman recognized it at a glance as a regular military warship of the Federation, guessing it was sent by the Legion to pick up and confirm the safety of the two kids based on messages they had sent.

Sure enough, the next second, a connection request was received and accepted.

On the screen appeared a relatively gentle-looking woman. Subjectively, she seemed like an omega, but weren't omegas rare in the military? So she should be an alpha female.

The woman wearing the rank of General gave a formal military salute to the captain. The captain felt somewhat flustered and mirrored the salute as best she could.

After returning the salute, the woman on the other side spoke with a tone that was both firm and gentle: "Thank you for your assistance. The rescue fee promised by the two young ones, our military district will send it to you. If you don't mind, our First Legion can also upgrade your ship once for free, as a token of the Federation's gratitude."

As she spoke, she pulled up the information for her own warship. Federation warships had special anti-counterfeiting codes, which also served as identification.

This statement from the other party left the captain feeling restrained and awkward. Initially, she had only thought of rescuing fellow humans. Later, realizing she could make money, she abandoned her original plan to go to the Federation. She had even worried about being cheated and having the promised fee halved. For this reason, she had recently been studying Federation laws and even thought of contacting her sister to see if she could back her up.

But the other party's attitude was not only willing to pay the rescue fee for the two kids but also offered to upgrade her ship for free. Regardless of whether they would fulfill it, this attitude was excellent!

The captain put on a righteous and solemn expression and declared with great solemnity: "We're all humans; no need for formalities. It was also these two kids' luck; otherwise, I couldn't have rescued them either. By the way, the rescue fee for the two of them is two billion star credits after tax."

She slightly lowered her voice for the last sentence. She knew two billion star credits was a small amount for the Federal Legion, but for her, it was really not small. If she could get the full amount, she would take it. After all, she had swindled her sister for so much money; it would be good to offset some of that debt just this once.

The General had no objection to the woman's request. The most important thing was that the two kids returned safely. If they didn't come back, after the Bug Swarm, the First Legion would probably be beaten by the Third Legion every day.

"Then we'll trouble you to dock your ship with our starship, so we can take the two young ones home."

The captain nodded in agreement: "No problem."

The ship and the starship quickly docked and established a connection. Ji Anzhi and Qi Yanshen also arrived at the command room at the right time and went with the captain to the Federation warship.

As soon as they reached the entrance of the warship, they saw the General who had just spoken with the captain walking toward them. Sensing something was off, the captain exclaimed: "You're an omega?!"

Seeing the other party nod, the captain asked tremulously and respectfully: "You... You wouldn't happen to be the acting Legion Commander, would you?"

The other party still smiled and nodded. The captain was nearly scared to death—or perhaps dying of excitement. That was the only omega among the Federation's nine Legion Commanders!

Flustered, the captain pulled out a military recruitment poster, found a long-dormant autograph pen, and her face flushed crimson with excitement: "Um... May I please have an autograph?"

The omega admiral took the neatly signed item and handed it back to the woman with both hands. After she accepted it, the omega admiral also shook her hand, which made her already flushed face turn almost purple, looking as if she might faint from excitement at any moment.

Dai Mo took it in stride—this wasn’t her first time encountering such a situation. She had her adjutant attend to the woman while she herself approached Qi Yanshen and Ji Anzhi.

Dai Mo hadn’t met the two of them much before, but she had personally been reviewing their photos for the past month, so she could confirm that the two youngsters before her were indeed the ones she was looking for.

Gazing at the two kids, Dai Mo said, “This incident was a failure on the part of the First Expeditionary Corps. Compensation will be fully covered by the First Expeditionary Corps. We apologize.”

The two quickly replied, “It’s not your fault.”

Dai Mo didn’t say anything more and led them to the command room. Now that they were found, it was time to report their safety; otherwise, Qi Lan’s rut might come early.

In the command room, Dai Mo immediately initiated an emergency call to Qi Lan, who answered instantly. The first thing Qi Lan did was accurately locate her child, and her heart, which had been in her throat, finally settled. She asked coolly how her son was doing.

“No injuries.”

“Hmm, Classmate Ji, you are relieved of your duties for the remainder of this holiday. Go home and rest properly. The due rewards will still be issued and will not be revoked.”

“Thank you, Commander Qi.” Ji Anzhi nodded in gratitude.

This was an unexpected windfall, and Ji Anzhi was delighted. Just in time, he could devote himself to modifying the starship for the remaining half of the holiday.

It was just that Qi Yanshen’s mecha repairs were in vain—he’d have to fix it again later. But being rescued safely made the wasted effort worth it.

After confirming her child was safe and unharmed, Qi Lan ended the call after just a few words. Dai Mo originally wanted to ask a few more things, but considering the two youngsters had just returned, she thought it best to let them rest properly first. Asking tomorrow wouldn’t be too late.

So the two went to their assigned rooms to rest. Once the signal stabilized, their communicators flooded with a pile of messages, which they replied to one by one, letting those who cared about them know they were safe.

Meanwhile, the woman’s starship was taken away by the mothership, which had deactivated its stealth mode.

To be honest, the moment the stealth was deactivated and over a hundred vessels suddenly appeared nearby, the woman’s legs went weak with fright. If she had harbored any malicious intent, she probably wouldn’t have even left behind a trace of her genetic material...

After surviving the ordeal, the woman realized that the two young men she had rescued... their identities were anything but ordinary. To mobilize over a hundred vessels, including starships, battleships, and a mothership, just for two kids—a response of this scale, outside of the Insectoid warfront, had only been seen once before, in that military academy murder case over a decade ago...

She was suddenly struck by a guess: Could those two young men... be current students of the First Military Academy?

This guess was confirmed after she asked. The woman’s first reaction was actually that she had another story worth bragging about. Without a second thought, she called her sister to tell her, scaring her so much she almost slashed the budget.

As for Ji Anzhi and Qi Yanshen, after resting for just one day, they were summoned to the commander’s office on the mothership the very next day.

Dai Mo sat at the desk, with the two juniors standing before her. She called up the surveillance footage from the day of the Bug Swarm: one part showed footage from the mechas of some of the students, and the other part showed the surveillance footage from the Moon Goddess.

Dai Mo had them watch the footage in its entirety, and finally, the screen froze on the moment when five Advanced Insectoids surrounded Thor, intending to swarm him but were immobilized instead. She swept her gaze over the two before her and asked, “Now that you’ve seen it, tell me, what’s going on here?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know.”

Their answers remained the same. Dai Mo said, “Do you object to my use of psychic threads? After all, this matter is of great importance, and the Federation must investigate it thoroughly.”

Using psychic threads was a method ordinarily only used for interrogating criminals. In principle, it shouldn’t be used on military academy students, but with the Bug Swarm imminent, they had to get to the bottom of it.

War leaves no room for unknown variables.

Ji Anzhi knew just how far psychic threads could go and felt a bit uneasy. He asked Ji Anjue inside the Space Bracelet: ‘Will we be discovered?’

Ji Anjue replied with certainty: ‘No.’

Then he added, annoyed and indignant: ‘What’s that supposed to mean? You think you humans can one-up me that easily?’

Upon learning the result, Ji Anzhi asked Ji Anjue to help Qi Yanshen as well; otherwise, both of them would be exposed. Ji Anjue understood the stakes and agreed.

“I don’t mind.”

“I do mind.”