Chapter 72: Holographic Projection

Chapter 72: Holographic Projection

Xie Chi certainly couldn't resist the invitation.

He gave in and ate.

It was already late at night by the time they finished.

Yan Wanqiu had showered and was holding Xie Chi drowsily, on the verge of falling asleep.

The room was thick with the heavy scent of pheromones, and even after opening the window to air it out for a long time, the scent hadn't fully dissipated.

Xie Chi yawned in his arms, also feeling drowsy.

He murmured softly, "Yan Wanqiu mentioned... he's going to find a chance to return to the main star to deal with Yan Huishi. I was thinking, maybe we should wait until then to decide?"

Yan Wanqiu looked up lazily. "Decide what?"

Xie Chi: "I'll clean out my guitar bag tomorrow. You can take it back with you and pack your things first. If Yan Wanqiu really loses the war, I'll grab you and we'll run."

Even though he'd decided to stay, he couldn't exactly go down with the ship—he still had his wife to think about.

Yan Wanqiu was silent for a moment. "...Alright."

Speaking of luggage, a thought occurred to him. He discreetly surveyed Xie Chi's apartment, then looked away.

He patted Xie Chi's back and said soothingly, "Alright, it's getting late. Let's sleep first."

Xie Chi nodded and obediently nestled into his arms, his breathing soon becoming steady.

Yan Wanqiu looked down at Xie Chi's long lashes, which under the dim light showed a slight upward curve, with a delicate beauty mark at the corner of his eye.

He smiled slightly and bent down to kiss his lashes.

He understood what Xie Chi's words meant.

He had Xie Chi now.

In the identity of Yan Wanqiu, not as Ji Chou.

After a blissful two-day break, Xie Chi threw himself back into work.

.

As Yan Wanqiu had predicted, over the following period, quite a few mechanical alien creatures descended across various regions.

Fortunately, most were scattered, and since each city was prepared, the crises were resolved quickly.

Shi Peijue gained a wealth of research materials from these encounters. The brief grief of losing his colleagues turned into a burning need for vengeance, and the research institute worked around the clock during this period.

"...This is our latest research result. As Lord Xie said, the remains of these alien creatures are a special material we've never seen before. They can transmit energy with nearly zero loss. Weapons modified with these materials are more powerful and use less energy—however, due to material shortages, they can't be mass-produced."

A month later, in the conference room, Shi Peijue was introducing earnestly.

"However, there's one more application that's immediately practical. They carry weapons on their bodies, which can be disassembled and used immediately after simple processing. They're suitable for emergency use on the front lines, or for sustaining combat by using captured resources in prolonged battles. I'll send out the detailed operation manual later."

After speaking, he gave a shy, apologetic smile and said, "Sorry, time was short, so this is the best I could do. I previously had the idea of extracting their energy sources, but since the energy core has to be destroyed to kill them, I haven't been able to do it yet."

The city lords below were speechless.

Don't talk about dismembering bodies in such an apologetic tone!

But then again, Shi Peijue's discovery was genuinely useful.

Shi Peijue wasn't the first to put Xie Chi's idea of "using alien remains" into practice. Both civilians and officials on the various resistance planets and their satellites had more or less dismantled mechanical alien remains and assembled their own weapons.

After Yan Wanqiu released the electromagnetic gun schematics to the public, all sorts of bizarre weapons emerged in endless variety—some had even cobbled together heavy mech suits.

Wartime was always the era of the fastest weapon development.

Yan Wanqiu listened quietly and gave a slight nod. "You've all worked hard during this period. I plan to share the methods for disassembling these weapons as well. Does anyone have any objections?"

The city lords immediately offered their suggestions, while Xie Chi's mind wandered for a moment, his gaze drifting to Yan Wanqiu's clothing.

Yan Wanqiu was wearing a loose jacket that he hadn't taken off even indoors, hiding his build.

This month, he and his wife had maintained their weekly meetings, and the extra weight around his wife's midsection was becoming increasingly noticeable.

Xie Chi had wanted to see what Yan Wanqiu looked like, but Yan Wanqiu had been wearing loose clothing this whole time, and he couldn't get a clear view no matter how he tried.

A strange feeling stirred in Xie Chi's chest.

Could it really be a coincidence?

But Ji Chou's pheromones were completely different from Yan Wanqiu's. There shouldn't be anyone in this world with two kinds of pheromones, right?

In the moment Xie Chi's mind wandered, everyone had already unanimously agreed to Yan Wanqiu's decision to share the information.

Yan Wanqiu then brought up another matter: "I plan to head to the main star after the war. Shi Peijue, You Fuzhu—you'll come with me. The rest of you will remain to guard the North Domain Star. I'll need to arrange the defense arrangements for after my departure."

Xie Chi looked up at Yan Wanqiu when he heard this.

Yan Wanqiu hadn't included him in the list.

None of the city lords saw anything strange about this—after all, Xie Chi was completely loyal to Yan Wanqiu, and Yan Wanqiu trusted Xie Chi completely. Even when Bai Fengyun had tried to drive a wedge between them, it hadn't caused any rift between them.

They'd all already assumed Yan Wanqiu and Xie Chi were inseparable—that Yan Wanqiu's decisions were joint decisions, and likewise that Xie Chi's words represented Yan Wanqiu's intentions. So they assumed Xie Chi would naturally follow Yan Wanqiu.

Only Xie Chi knew that he and Yan Wanqiu had trusted each other for just a few short months, and Yan Wanqiu had never once asked whether he planned to stay or leave.

It was as if... Yan Wanqiu knew he was hesitating and deliberately gave him plenty of time to back out.

Xie Chi blinked and shook his head slightly.

He must have been overwhelmed with work lately—seeing suspicious things everywhere.

Once the war started and he got a strand of Yan Wanqiu's hair to run tests on, the truth would naturally come out. The worst-case scenario was that he'd flee with his wife, and once the mask came off, he'd know who his wife really was.

Xie Chi stopped worrying about it and joined the discussion.

Meanwhile, back on the main star.

"Not a single one of the people you sent to the North Domain Star came back? How is that even possible?!" Yan Huishi looked at the mechanical being beside him in disbelief.

In just two months, he seemed to have been drained of all vitality—sunken eyes, a manic expression, with none of the arrogant superiority he'd displayed when first speaking with Yan Wanqiu.

The machine met his gaze, its electronic voice echoing in his mind.

"Indeed, that is the case. Moreover, since the network hub won't be fully built for another two weeks, we cannot retrieve the data on how these kin died, and therefore do not know how they died."

Yan Huishi gritted his teeth in anger: "It must be because Yan Wanqiu has united the entire Northern Domain Star! He even produced the electromagnetic gun blueprints, forcing me to suppress the resistance on the vassal stars. Why is he always working against me?"

"Isn't he suffering from Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome? How is he able to hold on until now?"

"Who knows." Yan Huishi sneered. "He's probably just gritting his teeth and bearing it. The fact that he went mad on the main star before is real—when Yan Baiyue went to see him, he still couldn't control his pheromones. Isn't he still taking a week off once a month? He must be going to deal with his dysregulation."

The machine mulled it over.

Yan Huishi had a point.

Originally, Yan Huishi had contacted them to bring down Yan Wanqiu, and they'd handed over the toxin originally meant for Yan Huishi.

In the ABO race, pheromone dysregulation syndrome was practically a death sentence—there was no way Yan Wanqiu could heal himself.

Now Yan Huishi was under their thumb too, slowly losing his mind and doing whatever they said.

The resistance was starting to look to Yan Wanqiu as their pillar. As long as they captured Yan Wanqiu and the thermal ore, the whole Kingdom would fall apart like loose sand, and taking over would just be a matter of time.

The machines' main star was running out of energy. Although Yan Huishi had given them several resource stars during this period, they were barely breaking even given the relentless fighting.

They had to take Yan Wanqiu down fast.

The network hub on the main star was inside the imperial palace. The information the machine received was the collective knowledge of the entire Mechanical Civilization, and its reasoning was quickly backed by every machine on the network.

In those three seconds, they'd already voted and reached a consensus online—

As soon as the network hub around the Northern Domain Star was up, they'd send troops out right away.

.

In the sixth month of the freeze, temperatures started climbing.

Even though it was still a hundred below, at least the brutal blizzards had stopped. The knockoff thermoregulation suits had been issued to the whole army.

This was also Yan Wanqiu's fourth month of pregnancy.

After week sixteen, his belly started growing faster. In month three, it was just a faint curve, but now it was a full-on bump. He could really feel the weight when he walked, and as a result, he'd had to give up all his fitted clothes.

This was clearly way beyond normal "weight gain." Yan Wanqiu had no choice but to use work as an excuse to put off seeing Xie Chi for the past two weeks.

He hadn't thought much of it—rather than have Xie Chi find out everything in the middle of pre-war chaos, he'd rather go back to the main star and have Xie Chi openly sit at his side, announcing the Queen's existence to the whole Kingdom.

But he regretted that soon enough.

The first week was bearable, but by the second week, having gone two full weeks without any pheromones, Yan Wanqiu's body started acting up.

Growing the babies required a steady supply of pheromones—especially since he was carrying twins and was an alpha himself, his need for Xie Chi's pheromones was even stronger.

In the spare bedroom of the temporary residence, Yan Wanqiu buried himself under the covers, biting the blanket to ride out another wave of heat.

His gland was on fire, and his aching body screamed for another alpha's comfort.

Ever since the first time he'd been with Xie Chi, Yan Wanqiu had never felt so pent-up.

He squirmed against the blanket, futilely kneading his swollen chest, and when that didn't help, let out a low whimper.

Xie Chi...

He wanted Xie Chi.

His pheromones spilled out uncontrollably, the warm, woody scent flooding the room and drowning out the faint orange smell on the blanket.

Yan Wanqiu tried for a long time but couldn't calm himself down.

His body had apparently gotten completely used to Xie Chi—without him, he just couldn't take care of it.

Yan Wanqiu stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and reached for the nightstand.

He found a wooden stick.

The sterilized wooden stick had been rubbed smooth and shiny from all his touching, the bite marks on it clearly visible.

Just seeing the marks from Xie Chi's fangs made Yan Wanqiu's gland burn even hotter.

He brought the stick to his nose, desperately trying to catch any trace of Xie Chi's scent, and when he found nothing, started gnawing on it in frustration.

Finally, he couldn't help but open his terminal and make a call.

Xie Chi was working late when a video call from his wife suddenly popped up, scaring the hell out of him.

He quickly closed his office door and answered.

"Wife? What's wrong?"

The boy's innocent, gorgeous face appeared on the screen, and Yan Wanqiu's breath hitched.

Xie Chi stared at the black screen, confused, and called out again: "Wife?"

Ji Chou seemed to be in the shower—water was running nonstop on the other end. After a long pause, the man's low, raspy voice finally came through.

"Baby, call me again."

Xie Chi's face flushed for no reason, his heart skipping a beat.

"W-wife?"

Yan Wanqiu let out a stifled groan.

His gaze was locked on Xie Chi's face—full of shame and obsession.

With the terminal's holographic projection, it was like Xie Chi was right there, watching him act so shamelessly.

Yan Wanqiu stayed quiet, but the water sounds gradually got more and more wanton.

Xie Chi finally caught on, his face turning scarlet as he stammered: "Y-y-you..."

Yan Wanqiu let out a soft laugh and finally turned on his camera, keeping his face and belly out of frame, showing Xie Chi: "Thinking about you, hubby."

Xie Chi's face was completely red.

His first instinct was to check if anyone was around, then he got up to check the door lock again, the bulge in his pants impossible to hide.

Xie Chi could look but not touch, pacing around frantically: "I'm coming to you right now, wife. Wait for me to go ask Yan Wanqiu for permission..."

"Husband." Yan Wanqiu called him breathlessly.

"Baby, be good. Let me see you."

...

Xie Chi worked late into the night and got himself a holographic midnight snack.

He had been somewhat drowsy, but immediately perked up, itching to rush off to find Yan Wanqiu and demand to go find his wife right now.

But Yan Wanqiu had relapsed these past few days, and he wasn't seeing anyone.

Xie Chi, who hadn't seen his wife in two weeks, let out a pathetic whimper.

Yan Wanqiu wasn't doing much better either.

Though the immediate problem was temporarily solved, without the nourishment of pheromones, his body stayed hot and restless, and for two or three nights straight, he could only fall asleep watching recordings of Xie Chi.

Just as he was about to abandon his original plan and go find Xie Chi no matter the consequences to get his pheromone fix, something unexpected happened.

A red alarm blared across the sky, and one after another, battleships set out openly from the main star, charging in full force toward the Northern Domain star.

War was about to break out.