Chapter 69: Baby

Chapter 69 Xie Chi

Xie Chi huffed in annoyance: "How could Uncle Nie go and tattle on me like that?"

This morning's meeting brought together all the big shots from every city, and Nie Huaiyi was naturally among them.

He was the only one who knew Ji Chou and would've ratted him out—Yan Wanqiu wasn't that bored or that desperate.

Yan Wanqiu silently apologized to Nie Huaiyi for throwing him under the bus, then smiled: "Uncle Nie's just looking out for you."

"Alright, everything's done—go set the table and let's eat."

Xie Chi dutifully carried the dishes to the table.

Yan Wanqiu untied his apron and served up two bowls of rice.

He was already over a month pregnant, and with You Fuzhu's careful attention, though greasy food still made him queasy, he'd more or less gotten used to it, so the meal he'd made had both meat and veggies.

Xie Chi noticed he was only eating the veggies and got worried: "Honey, has your stomach condition still not improved?"

"Mm." Yan Wanqiu lied without missing a beat. "I can't digest this stuff at noon—I'll just eat something light."

Hearing this, Xie Chi didn't feel any better—if anything, he got even more worried.

He couldn't hold it in and asked between bites: "Does Dr. Fu still have that medicine he prescribed? Didn't he brag about how good he was? It's been a month and you're still not better. Maybe he got it wrong—I'll go see him again."

Yan Wanqiu: "..."

If You Fuzhu actually cured him, that would be a real problem.

"Stomach conditions are like this—they need to be nursed slowly." Yan Wanqiu could only keep the lie going.

"Oh..." Xie Chi didn't suspect a thing and reluctantly bought it.

Though it did make him doubt You Fuzhu's medical skills a bit more.

After dinner, they loaded the dishwasher, showered, and naturally ended up in bed in the master bedroom.

Xie Chi was a bit sleepy, but with Ji Chou in his arms, he couldn't bear to drift off.

As usual, he snuggled into the man's arms, rambling on and squirming around.

He told the man all about the whole lost ring ordeal, then checked the matching ring on the man's finger again, holding both hands together to admire them for a good long while.

"Remember how I told you resort star K322 got blown up? At this morning's meeting, Yan Wanqiu said things would get hot all around us soon. If I ever take you and run, we'd probably have to get out of this whole star system to be safe..."

The man's body tensed, and he replied in a low, offhand tone: "In times of chaos and war, staying in the Kingdom means you can't stay out of it."

Xie Chi sighed: "But I still haven't decided whether to leave. I thought the war wouldn't start until after the ice-sealing period—but the Mechanical Civilization moved too fast. At this morning's meeting, Yan Wanqiu also said we've got at most three months to prepare. Beating them seems pretty much impossible."

"...Maybe His Majesty has other plans. You could ask him."

Xie Chi shook his head: "Forget it, let's not talk about all this stressful stuff. Tomorrow's the last in-person meeting—after that, everything's online, and we'll only meet in person for big stuff. After that, meetings won't eat into our time together anymore."

He was about to happily share his plans for future meetups when he suddenly caught a faint whiff of woody pheromones.

Xie Chi went still.

He looked up and realized the man's ears had gone red at some point, and his breathing had gotten quick.

Xie Chi blurted out in surprise: "Honey?"

The moment he spoke, the man seemed triggered by something and gave a barely noticeable shudder.

Xie Chi looked down, confused, and saw that the man's pajamas had gotten mussed up from his squirming at some point, revealing a full chest.

Ji Chou had a great body—his muscles weren't over-the-top, just a lean layer of pecs and abs that were both nice to look at and powerful.

Now, those originally lean pecs had flushed red at some point, with a band-aid stuck on each one.

They trembled with every breath the man took. Trembling, and trembling.

Xie Chi was stunned for a full three seconds before it hit him where all his squirming, talking, and breathing had been landing.

His face went bright red, and he shot up with a "whoosh," flustered: "I—I didn't mean to, honey... I... what happened to you? Are you allergic to something?"

Yan Wanqiu laughed at what Xie Chi said.

He opened his long, narrow eyes, looked at Xie Chi, and reached out with open arms, gesturing for him to lie back down.

"Come here."

Xie Chi very carefully lay back in Ji Chou's arms, trying his best not to touch him and making a huge effort not to let his eyes wander.

But the more he tried not to look, the more he couldn't stop himself.

So... so full.

He was getting closer and closer to his wife...

Wait, it wasn't about getting closer to his wife.

Xie Chi suddenly realized he was the one leaning into Ji Chou's arms.

His face got even hotter, and he was about to scramble away in a panic.

But the man wrapped an arm around him, not letting him leave, and pressed his face right against his chest.

Xie Chi:?!?

Yan Wanqiu said casually: "I bought some cheap clothes a while back, and they chafed the skin there."

"Oh..." Xie Chi said, dazed.

Yan Wanqiu continued: "Repair serum's in short supply right now, and I didn't want to waste it on something like this, so I didn't use any."

Xie Chi nodded vaguely, no longer really following what the guy was saying.

He felt a little lightheaded from the view.

Yan Wanqiu chuckled softly: "But it's a little uncomfortable. Rub it for me, honey?"

Xie Chi's whole body went stiff.

"I—I..."

It felt soft to the touch, running a little warm.

Xie Chi couldn't fully cover it with one hand.

The muscles that had been aching for a while were suddenly kneaded, a sore yet soothing sensation spreading through him, and Yan Wanqiu couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

At six weeks pregnant, there was no milk, of course—he was just painfully engorged. Neither the breast pump nor his own efforts had brought any relief.

But now, under Xie Chi's touch, the taut muscles actually began to slowly relax.

Yan Wanqiu narrowed his eyes, savoring the novel sensation, and guided Xie Chi in a hoarse, coaxing voice.

"Peel it off, then put both hands here... that's it, good boy."

"Mmm... wanna have a taste?"

"Baby... little husband... mmm!"

Under the man's patient guidance, Xie Chi closed his mouth over him.

An alpha's mouth contains sharp canine teeth meant for marking—even though Xie Chi tried to keep his teeth pulled back, they would inevitably scrape against the skin, let alone the fact that he was so completely bewitched he forgot to hold back at all.

The swollen muscles got a thorough massage, and after finishing one side, Xie Chi moved on to the other, burying his whole face in Yan Wanqiu's chest.

Yan Wanqiu had initially been holding himself up to let Xie Chi feed, but as the little alpha lost control, his voice gradually changed.

By the time Xie Chi reluctantly pulled away, Yan Wanqiu had already released a wave of pheromones, his whole being dazed from being so thoroughly eaten out.

Xie Chi, on the other hand, buried his flushed face against him, nuzzling and clinging as he murmured clingily, "Wife..."

Because of his messing around, the man's chest had swollen another size.

Before, they only trembled with deep breaths; now, even the slightest exhale made them heave.

Xie Chi reached out and gave a gentle touch, and the man shuddered.

How is this as sensitive as a breeding hole?

Xie Chi thought, feeling dizzy, then started kissing Ji Chou all over, wrapping him in his orange-scented pheromones, wanting the man to notice the change in him: "Wife... wife..."

Yan Wanqiu needed to replenish pheromones anyway, so he indulged him, said in a shaky, uneven voice: "Keep going."

Both of his weak spots were under Xie Chi's control—even someone as strong-willed as Yan Wanqiu couldn't afford to worry about who was on top now. He hooked his long legs around Xie Chi's waist, silently conceding that Xie Chi would get his fill first this time.

Face to face, Xie Chi could feed on Yan Wanqiu while feeding him pheromones simultaneously.

Wife's different now.

Xie Chi thought, feeling dizzy.

Whatever. He liked it anyway.

He might really pass out from boob overload.

...

They fooled around until late into the night, and both of them, having gone nearly two days and nights without sleep, were completely exhausted.

For the baby's sake, Yan Wanqiu forced himself to eat and take his medicine before lying back down with Xie Chi.

Xie Chi was held in his arms, clearly about to fall asleep, his eyelids drooping heavily.

But he still couldn't bring himself to fall asleep, hugging Yan Wanqiu and whispering, his face flushed, "I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself..."

By the end, he'd rubbed the man's skin raw with his mouth, and he'd been scared out of his wits, thinking he'd bitten off something he shouldn't have.

Even though he'd insisted on applying healing ointment afterward, the part that had swollen from being eaten couldn't go back to how it was.

No matter how clueless Xie Chi was, he knew he'd messed up, and he nearly called You Fuzhu over to check on him right then and there. It took a lot of smooth-talking from Yan Wanqiu to calm him down.

Yan Wanqiu patted his back and chuckled softly, "Why are you apologizing to me? Didn't I let you?"

Xie Chi thought it over with his sluggish brain—that seemed right.

He yawned and added, "But you bled..."

Yan Wanqiu thought to himself, there's more than blood to come later.

Under the influence of omega pheromones, he'd inevitably produce some milk in the later stages of pregnancy.

But You Fuzhu had determined that his Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome would likely clear up after childbirth, and that small amount of milk wouldn't be enough to feed the baby—both babies would definitely need formula.

As for that little bit... it would naturally end up in another little pup's belly.

Thinking about it this way, he was raising three kids.

Yan Wanqiu smiled at the thought, his chest trembling slightly.

He looked down, wanting to tease Xie Chi a bit more, only to find Xie Chi had already fallen asleep in his arms.

The young man breathed evenly, his cheek pressed against him, completely defenseless.

Yan Wanqiu reached out and pinched Xie Chi's little face, then finally closed his eyes, sinking into sleep alongside him.

The next morning.

Even though Yan Wanqiu had said he wouldn't leave until the afternoon, Xie Chi still didn't want to part.

He changed his clothes, said a clingy goodbye to his wife at home, and went off to his meeting, feeling resentful.

There was no helping it—there were just too many things to arrange regarding the Mechanical Civilization, far more than a meeting or two could cover.

This time, it really wasn't Yan Wanqiu's fault, and it wasn't the city lords' fault either. Xie Chi's resentment was directed purely at Yan Huishi and the Mechanical Civilization.

Damn robots, getting in the way of him and his wife.

Yan Wanqiu watched with amusement as Xie Chi, who had just been clinging to him and acting spoiled moments ago, left with a pout, thinking that the city lords would probably be trembling under Xie Chi's glare again today.

Then he took off the ruby ring from his ring finger, hung it around his neck, and left too.

Back in his chambers, when it came time to change, Yan Wanqiu found himself in a bind.

It was way too obvious.

After last night, his chest had swollen a full size. When he put on his usual fitted clothes, the outline of his chest was completely visible.

With a thick coat over it, it couldn't be seen from outside, but once he took off the coat in the meeting room, it would be on full display.

Even if he put on band-aids like yesterday, it would only keep the obvious from showing.

Yan Wanqiu looked at himself in the mirror, pursed his lips, and finally took off his clothes, grabbing bandages from the medical kit.

He had bandaged countless wounds on himself, but this was the first time he was binding his chest like this.

It was humiliating, but it worked, and it solved the problem of his chest chafing painfully against his clothes.

Yan Wanqiu steadied himself, gave his clothes one final adjustment, and then pushed open the door and walked out.

.

"...The Mechanical Alien Race isn't scary when they act alone. The real problem we need to tackle right now is how to stop them from infiltrating networks and forming a collective consciousness. Within a network, they don't even need to talk to each other to work in perfect sync—that's the tricky part. What does everyone think?"

In the meeting room, everyone had shown up.

This time, not only the city lords were present, but also delegates from every faction within each city, plus all kinds of experts and big shots—the room was packed.

Xie Chi's eyes landed on Yan Wanqiu for the third time.

Ever since he began suspecting Ji Chou's identity, he had been carefully observing the two of them.

But for the past month, he'd basically been "sent to the doghouse," could barely even catch a glimpse of Yan Wanqiu, so he hadn't been able to continue his investigation.

The meeting room was toasty warm, and Yan Wanqiu had taken off his outer coat, showing off the white shirt underneath.

The shirt was sharply tailored at the waist, buttoned all the way up, with no visible curve at the chest.

The body type didn't match.

If his wife wore a shirt like that, the buttons would've popped right off.

Xie Chi zoned out for a second, then shook his head, ears turning red, trying to shake off those messy thoughts.

He was probably just overthinking it. His wife was still at home waiting for him—there was no way his wife was Yan Wanqiu.

Yan Wanqiu cradling him and feeding him...

If Yan Wanqiu ever found out he'd even thought that, the guy would probably lose it.

"Xie Chi, what do you think?"

Yan Wanqiu's voice suddenly cut through the silence.

Xie Chi snapped back to reality, realizing it was his turn to talk.

He sat up straight, feeling guilty, putting on a serious face as he spoke: "I think we should take out their network hubs before they can use them, and also figure out the exact coordinates of their home planet. That's where their main network is—if we can take it out in one shot, they won't be able to organize any real force for a long time."

Since he'd been keeping a tight expression ever since leaving his wife, nobody in the room noticed he'd zoned out earlier. They all nodded seriously and hunched over to take notes.

Yan Wanqiu pushed: "How do we destroy it?"

Xie Chi blinked: "Uh... blow it up?"

Yan Wanqiu, who'd been expecting some kind of electronic warfare talk: "..."

Wow, what a refreshingly simple solution.

He rubbed his forehead, realizing he'd been way too tense and overthinking everything, and let out a small laugh: "You're right—once we find it, we just blow it up. It's just that taking on the whole Mechanical Civilization by ourselves won't be easy. Can you give me a rough idea of what their network hubs look like? I'll spread the word and get all the subsidiary planets moving on it in advance."

Hearing that, Xie Chi pulled up an image he'd found earlier in the terminal database.

The image showed a giant blue sphere with countless pipes sticking out of it.

"This is just a reference. The current hubs might look a bit different, but they're definitely underground, since the hubs send out massive amounts of signals—if we can capture those signals, we can pinpoint their exact locations."

The people who'd seen the image furrowed their brows.

After a moment, someone cautiously asked: "Lord Xie, what specific technology does this signal capture use?"

Xie Chi: "..."

He wasn't a tech guy, so he couldn't really explain it.

Bai Fengyun spoke up then, taking his sweet time: "No need to overcomplicate things. Didn't they just take over a planet? To build a space hub, they'll have to do some major construction. Just send people to watch for big underground construction projects, and we'll find it."

His legs had recovered, and he was now glowing with vitality, his complexion ruddy—he was actually in the best condition of everyone who had been working nonstop.

The crowd suddenly understood and voiced their agreement one after another.

This meeting was meant for collective discussion of concrete strategies, so everyone spoke freely.

And none of those present were pushovers—even if their own thinking hit a dead end due to limitations, someone would quickly propose a new angle.

And so, under intense discussion, a preliminary plan against the Mechanical Civilization began to take shape—

Within the Northern Domain Star, each city would ramp up production and training to maximum capacity.

Outside the Northern Domain Star, each city would coordinate with Yan Wanqiu on the star network for public education campaigns, helping viable forces across the Kingdom mount resistance; simultaneously, each city would dispatch elite units to infiltrate planets near vacation star K322 and other recently attacked worlds, searching for traces of network hubs and destroying them at opportune moments.

Of course, there were also countless details—contingency plans for various crises during infiltration, fallback plans if the network hubs couldn't be found, progress on targeted weapon development, and so on.

The dozens of scribes nearby were sweating profusely just from taking notes, and the participants left the meeting with pounding headaches.

Looking at the enemies they had fought against for half their lives across the conference table, countless people felt the same thought rise in their hearts.

—Thank goodness Yan Wanqiu had conquered the Northern Domain Star in one decisive move, forcing them to cooperate.

Otherwise, if these underhanded tactics had been used in internal strife, the Northern Domain Star probably couldn't have organized an effective counterattack within a year.

"Alright, that concludes today's meeting. Tomorrow morning will be the online session, so no need for everyone to make the trip. Thank you all for your hard work—meeting adjourned."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and rose to leave in small groups, chatting idly.

"Your Shuofeng City is progressing that fast? Already in mass production?"

"Well, we had a solid foundation to build on..."

"The slowest one right now should be Xiansong—they only finished post-war reconstruction last night. But Xiansong is a large city, so they'll probably catch up soon enough."

Hearing the chatter, Xie Chi suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Yan Wanqiu, who had yet to leave.

"Your Majesty, is Yure still in prison?"

Yan Wanqiu was taken aback: "Yes, why?"

"I was just thinking—we're short on manpower right now. Could we put Yure to work? No point letting him live comfortably in prison." Xie Chi voiced the idea he'd had earlier.

Yan Wanqiu: "..."

"Living comfortably in prison"—only Xie Chi could say something like that.

He thought it over, and what Xie Chi said did make sense, so he called out to Bai Fengyun, who hadn't yet left.

Bai Fengyun strode over briskly, bowed his head slightly, and asked respectfully, "Your Majesty, what instructions do you have?"

Yan Wanqiu said, "Xie Chi has pleaded on Yure's behalf, saying that talent is hard to come by and hoping to get him released from prison to serve in our self-defense war. You are his superior, so I wanted to get your take."

Bai Fengyun naturally remembered Yure, but since their Sansong City had rebelled and Yure had been captured as a mole, Yan Wanqiu sparing his life was already generous. He couldn't very well push his luck and ask for the hostage back, so he had chosen to pretend to overlook him.

Now that Yan Wanqiu brought it up proactively, Bai Fengyun was somewhat surprised, then nodded. "Thank Lord Xie for putting in a good word. Yure is indeed one of the top experts in our Sansong City. If Your Majesty is willing to give him a chance, he will not disappoint you!"

Yan Wanqiu nodded slightly and gestured for his subordinate to release the prisoner.

The subordinate understood and left.

Before long, Yure was brought in wearing handcuffs.

It was clear he hadn't been tortured in prison—though he looked a bit haggard, he bore no external injuries.

Yure had never expected to have a chance to leave prison. With limited information inside, he was still unclear about what had happened outside, and now looked at Yan Wanqiu and Bai Fengyun—who could suddenly stand—looking somewhat bewildered.

Bai Fengyun quickly brought him up to speed on recent events. Yure's face darkened at the mention of the alien invasion, then turned grateful upon learning that Yan Wanqiu had cured Bai Fengyun's legs and was willing to give him another chance.

Before Bai Fengyun could say more, Yure understood.

He dropped to one knee without hesitation. "Thank you, Your Majesty and Lord Xie, for giving me this opportunity. I volunteer to head to the invaded planets, find and destroy the network hubs, and serve the Kingdom with everything I've got, even if it costs me my life!"

He wasn't stupid—he knew the main conflict now lay with the outside world, and knew that as a former mole, staying on the Northern Domain Star would only cause friction between Sansong City and Yan Wanqiu.

Since his skills were suited for covert work, he volunteered to be deployed abroad.

Yan Wanqiu and Bai Fengyun had clearly seen this coming and agreed without hesitation.

Bai Fengyun smiled. "Everyone going undercover gets a week of training in Blizzard City first. Since you're already here, no need to travel. I'll have someone set you up with the essentials—stay here for now."

Yure nodded, raising no objections.

He was an orphan and had always been Bai Fengyun's weapon, so it would have been strange to follow Bai Fengyun back to Sansong City.

And so Yure's matter was settled.

As everyone left, Yan Wanqiu smiled and glanced at the petrified Xie Chi.

He could easily see through Xie Chi's little scheme and deliberately said, "You certainly think ahead. If you hadn't brought it up, Lord Bai and I might not have been the first to raise this matter."

Xie Chi, at a loss for words: "..."

He had just wanted to find himself some labor! How had these three managed to agree and arrange everything so seamlessly?!