Li Shu had smoothly arrived at Fanna Star. He had traveled with a small merchant fleet. Initially, he had planned to directly seek the “help” of the star pirates, but along the way, he encountered a small merchant group being bullied. He helped them out and, at their invitation, boarded their spaceship.
Though called a “small” merchant fleet, this was only in comparison to larger fleets. Its size was not actually small; otherwise, they wouldn’t have had the confidence to enter Fanna Star.
Unlike the bustling Moz Star, Fanna Star was mostly barren as far as the eye could see. The only adornment to the wasteland was the towering, imposing buildings that rose from the ground.
“Would you like to visit our Chamber Of Commerce first?” asked a merchant. Their fleet had a resting base on Fanna Star since they frequented the area.
Staring at the endless yellow dust, Li Shu shook his head. “No need.”
The merchant didn’t insist. Though he regretted not being able to recruit such a powerful person into his fleet, he knew full well that his fleet, though not weak, had little chance of keeping someone like Li Shu.
Without pressing further, the two parties parted ways upon reaching Fanna Star, heading toward their respective goals.
Li Shu had already gathered information about the distribution of power on Fanna Star and knew where the star pirates he was looking for were based.
Over the past few days, his body had felt slightly unwell, with a strange sensation that would vanish as soon as he tried to focus on it, as though the discomfort had been a mere illusion.
The current task at hand was more pressing, so he set aside the feeling and infiltrated the star pirates’ base.
At the same time, Gu Lin also arrived on Moz Star.
Without wasting time, he took his men straight to Fanna Star.
Many years had passed, and everything familiar to Gu Lin on Fanna Star had disappeared. Only the yellow sand remained, which matched his memories.
“Boss, should we go directly now?”
Naturally, they couldn’t reveal their true identities. Posing as a small merchant fleet here for supplies, Gu Lin and his subordinates discreetly entered the planet without drawing much attention.
Their first priority upon arrival was to locate Li Shu.
Before Li Shu could figure out a way to make himself a “hostage” of the star pirates without being noticed, he ran into Gu Lin’s men.
“Mr. Lu?”
After taking care of the people who had noticed something was wrong and had come to investigate, Li Shu pulled down the brim of his hat. “It’s me. What are you doing here?”
The man who had approached him was the adjutant. Lowering his voice, the adjutant replied, “We’re here to find someone. What about you, Mr. Lu? Why are you here?”
“I’m here looking for someone too.”
This wasn’t the place to talk. Their presence had already been detected, so the two decided to leave first and talk later. At this point, Li Shu couldn’t just leave, so he would have to see how things played out.
After returning to where Gu Lin and his men were staying, he found that Gu Lin had been injured.
The adjutant explained that they’d run into a little trouble when they first arrived on Fanna Star, but it was nothing serious. However, Li Shu thought to himself that if Gu Lin had gotten injured, it couldn’t have been a minor issue.
This was the base camp of the star pirates. Gu Lin had brought a few people with him, and they must have had a conflict with the locals. Judging by their current, small, and hidden residence, it seemed the conflict hadn’t been minor.
Little did he know that the adjutant was also puzzled. It was just a few star pirates, far weaker than the zerg. How had the marshal gotten injured? In the end, he could only conclude that the marshal was too anxious to save someone, and his mind elsewhere.
Gu Lin frowned slightly when he saw Li Shu, who was wrapped up tightly, but said nothing.
The adjutant led Li Shu to rest, and explained on the marshal’s behalf, “The boss is worried about his sweetheart; it wasn’t intentional.”
Li Shu paused. “Sweetheart?”
“Of course. Otherwise, why would the boss come all this way without even a delay? We don’t even know what condition that person is in. We’ve been investigating but haven’t found any leads.” The adjutant’s eyes showed concern. They knew all too well what kind of people the star pirates were. For someone like Li Shu, an Omega, to fall into their hands…
“He’ll be fine.”
The adjutant took this as a way of comforting him and smiled helplessly. “I hope so.”
If something really happened to that person, he couldn’t imagine what the marshal would do. After so many years, this was the only time the marshal had fallen for someone, and then this had to happen.
“You should rest here. By the way, you mentioned you’re also looking for someone. Who are you looking for? We can help you out when the time comes.”
“Well…” After a moment’s thought, Li Shu replied, “A younger member of the Yue family. I heard he’s here.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie. He was indeed a younger member of the Yue family and was, in fact, here.
The adjutant didn’t stay long and left after a few words. Li Shu took a hot bath, and that strange sensation returned.
His body felt weak and sore, and he couldn’t muster any strength. It was worse than before.
[1314, check me.]
[Yes.] After a short pause, the system’s voice rang out again, [Your body temperature is slightly elevated, and your thresholds are unstable. Also…]
[Don’t bother with that,] Li Shu interrupted. [Just tell me what’s happening.]
1314 hesitated for a moment before whispering, [If I’m not mistaken, your heat period is approaching.]
[Heat?!] Li Shu had not experienced this since he came to this world, and he almost forgot that this body had a damn heat period.
[Host, what should we do now?] 1314’s tone was a bit anxious. It hadn’t expected this coincidence to happen at such a moment.
Of all times, it had to be now!
Li Shu closed his eyes for a moment, quickly thinking of a solution. This new planet was different from the others. There were no specialized Omega product stores, and to buy inhibitors, he would have to go through the black market. On top of that, he was currently using the identity of “Lu Xi”.
At the same time, in another room, Gu Lin suddenly sat up. He smelled a faint floral scent, so light it was almost imperceptible. But that wasn’t the point—the point was that this scent was one he had longed for day and night. It was the scent of Li Shu’s pheromones.
How could this be? How could Li Shu’s pheromone scent be here?
At first, Gu Lin thought it was just his imagination. But after a few minutes, the scent hadn’t faded. Instead, it grew stronger. He couldn’t sit still any longer. Grabbing his jacket, he rushed out the door.
Outside, he ran into his adjutant who was patrolling. Grabbing the adjutant by the arm, Gu Lin asked, “Do you smell anything unusual?”
The adjutant looked confused. “What smell?”
Seeing that the adjutant wasn’t faking it, Gu Lin let go of his arm. “It’s nothing, I’m going out to check.”
Gu Lin was certain that the scent he had smelled wasn’t his imagination; it was real. It lingered in the air, floating around him, like a hunter slowly trapping its prey. He used all his willpower to keep his own pheromones from leaking out.
Li Shu must be nearby.
He was sure of it. Because of what had happened in the past, his senses were sharper than those of an ordinary person. He knew he wasn’t mistaken. Li Shu was very, very close.
Why wasn’t he revealing himself? Was he still safe? Was he hurt?
Gu Lin had countless questions racing through his mind as he followed the trail of pheromones toward a certain room.
At this moment, neither Gu Lin nor Li Shu knew that the attraction between two people with a 100% pheromone compatibility was overwhelming. Like now, Li Shu’s yearning was sensed by Gu Lin, who couldn’t help but move closer.
After a comfortable bath and drying himself off, Li Shu felt a bit better. 1314 also came back after reviewing a large amount of information.
[The discomfort you’ve been feeling these past few days is a precursor to your heat period. Your actual heat will arrive in three days. Please make the necessary preparations.]
[Preparations? What kind of preparations?] Li Shu paused mid-action.
[I’ll send you the relevant information.]
True to its word, 1314 sent a large batch of documents. Caught off guard by the large amount of information on the subject, Li Shu was momentarily dazed, then his expression changed subtly.
He really hadn’t expected this world… to be so…
Just as he sat down on the bed, still in a bit of a daze, there was a knock at the door.
Who would be knocking at this hour?
Hurriedly changing into his clothes, Li Shu opened the door and found none other than Gu Lin standing there.
“I…”
Seeing Li Shu, still fresh from his bath and with traces of moisture lingering on him, Gu Lin snapped back to his senses. What was he doing? He had come running just because he smelled what might be Li Shu’s pheromones and knocked on someone’s door. What did he intend to do?
Li Shu caught a faint scent, like a cold winter wind, but it disappeared before he could capture it.
“Marshal?”
Because of their cooperative relationship, Gu Lin hadn’t concealed his identity from Li Shu. Otherwise, Li Shu wouldn’t have followed him back.
“Why has the Marshal come over?” Li Shu asked, looking at the man with the serious face.
“I… I came to check on you. The adjutant said you infiltrated the star pirate base alone. You’re not hurt, are you?” Gu Lin hastily found an excuse. He couldn’t admit that he didn’t even know why he was here.
“I’m fine. Would the Marshal like to come in?” Li Shu stepped aside, leaving enough space for Gu Lin to pass through.
“No…” Gu Lin was about to refuse, but then he caught another whiff of that floral scent. It was faint, but very close.
Really close, as if it were just within reach.
The rest of his words vanished from his mouth. Gu Lin thought, ‘I wasn’t mistaken. I really did smell pheromones, and now the source of that scent is right in front of me.’
But the scent clearly belonged to Li Shu. Why was it here? Why was it on this person?
Gu Lin thought back. He had never smelled any pheromones on “Lu Xi” before. People speculated that “Lu Xi” was an Alpha, but no one was certain. Could “Lu Xi” actually be Li Shu?
The thought he had once dismissed resurfaced. For a moment, Gu Lin felt as if the person standing before him was that innocent young man from school. But then reality reminded him that the person in front of him wasn’t some helpless Omega. He was someone who had single-handedly infiltrated and exited the star pirate base. How could he be an Omega?
Then Gu Lin recalled the faint scent he had noticed when the adjutant first brought “Lu Xi” in. He had thought it was a trick of his imagination. But now, it was clear that “Lu Xi” really did have a pheromone scent similar to Li Shu’s.
Was it that there was some connection between them?