ISMW Chapter 77

Third Border Line, Tianji Legion Fifth Space Station.

 

Yun Xunlan had been undergoing surgery here for nine hours.

 

There weren’t many people waiting outside the operating room. Yun Xunguang only allowed Ni Chun, Jian Wenxi, and Yu Chen to stay with her in the waiting area. She had driven away everyone else, including Dike.

 

Yu Chen didn’t wait outside the operating room the entire time. Yun Xunguang told him to change his blood-stained mecha suit and treat the sensor port wounds from piloting the mecha before coming back.

 

“Only Yun Xunlan would like this seawater fishy smell.”—These were Yun Xunguang’s exact words.

 

Before Yu Chen went to change clothes, Jian Wenxi was sitting on the sofa wiping tears. When he finished dealing with his clothes and wounds and returned, Jian Wenxi was still wiping tears, though he had moved from the sofa to beside a small round table, wiping tears while eating in his chair.

 

Omega physical constitution was too weak. Since the incident occurred, Jian Wenxi hadn’t rested at all. If he didn’t eat something soon, he might faint. When Ni Chun prepared food for him, he also brought a portion for Yu Chen, but Yu Chen didn’t eat—he couldn’t.

 

Yun Xunguang saw this and advised: “Eat something, even drinking a nutritional liquid is fine.”

 

She glanced at the time: “If the surgery goes quickly, we still need to wait three hours. If it’s slow, we’ll wait five hours.”

 

Yu Chen really had no mood to eat, but since the Crown Princess had said this much, Yu Chen opened a nutritional liquid and finished it in a few gulps, then continued spacing out on the sofa. He looked like he was dazing, but his thoughts were still chaotic.

 

Yun Xunguang stared at him observing for a moment, then suddenly spoke: “You upgraded from SS to SSS?”

 

Yu Chen came back to his senses and answered: “Yes.”

 

Actually, he was originally a 3S-level alpha, but explaining this was too complicated and risked exposing Pei Xingting. Due to his worry about Yun Xunlan, he hadn’t had time to confirm what he needed to confirm on the SSS mecha, so Yu Chen went along with the mistake and acknowledged it.

 

Hearing him say this, Yun Xunguang asked again: “Then what’s your resonance level with the SSS mecha?”

 

Yu Chen answered truthfully: “100%.”

 

“Perfect resonance. That’s too rare for an alpha who just upgraded to SSS level.” Yun Xunguang’s lips curved up, but there was no smile in her eyes. “Are you progressing rapidly? Or are you—”

 

“Naturally gifted?”

 

She very obviously paused for several seconds, letting Yu Chen know it was intentional, before saying those four words.

 

But Yun Xunguang quickly asked a new question, with a big jump between the two questions: “How is your current relationship status with Lanlan?”

 

Yu Chen thought about it and felt these two questions were still connected.

 

Because Yun Xunguang had obviously noticed something wrong with his level. Given how much she valued Yun Xunlan, perhaps after asking about their relationship status, her next words would be “I don’t care how good your relationship is, break up immediately.”

 

This speculation made Yu Chen’s already irritated emotions turn anxious. He still chose to tell the truth: “I think we’re… pretty good.”

 

“I also think your relationship is decent.” But Yun Xunguang changed direction: “Have you considered marriage?”

 

Yu Chen was silent for a long while: “…No.”

 

Yun Xunguang frowned: “Why not?”

 

Yu Chen really hadn’t considered the marriage question.

 

First, both he and Yun Xunlan were alphas. Although there were no rules against alphas marrying alphas, this didn’t conform to mainstream society. Ordinary citizens wouldn’t face obstacles, but that didn’t mean Yun Xunlan, born into royalty, wouldn’t either.

 

Second, once his guard service term was up, Yu Chen would go to the border battlefield. This was agreed upon before he and Yun Xunlan confirmed their relationship.

 

Finally, on the battlefield where weapons had no eyes, Yu Chen couldn’t guarantee how long he could live, so he didn’t want marriage to become a constraint for Yun Xunlan.

 

Moreover, same-sex alphas couldn’t have children, and they didn’t need marriage as mutual security, so marriage was dispensable to them.

 

Yu Chen didn’t lack desire—he lacked sufficient qualifications and ability to aspire to it.

 

He would never actively bring up marriage with Yun Xunlan. If Yun Xunlan wanted it, he would list all the disadvantages of marrying him and advise Yun Xunlan to consider carefully. Only if Yun Xunlan still insisted after consideration would Yu Chen respect his decision and marry him.

 

A thousand words condensed into one sentence: “I’m an alpha.”

 

In a society where alphas should be with omegas and betas with betas, this answer was enough to explain why he hadn’t considered marriage.

 

Unexpectedly, Yun Xunguang’s brow furrowed even tighter: “Would this hinder your marriage?”

 

Now it was Yu Chen’s turn to question: “Wouldn’t the royal family… oppose alpha-alpha marriage?”

 

The Galactic Empire’s royal family was quite conservative about royal members’ partner choices, basically all alpha-omega combinations. When Yun Qihe married a divorced omega years ago, he faced opposition. When Yun Xunguang wanted to marry a beta, there was considerable opposition too. Yun Xunlan and his alpha-alpha union… it would be strange if no one opposed it.

 

But Yun Xunguang said seriously: “Marrying one alpha won’t be a problem. Marrying multiple alphas would be.”

 

Yu Chen: “…”

 

“I’m joking.” Yun Xunguang changed from her serious expression, smiling with a teasing tone: “You don’t need to be so nervous. All doctors in the royal medical team have the most advanced medical skills.”

 

She seemed to want Yu Chen to relax a bit.

 

However, Yu Chen noticed that during the waiting period, Yun Xunguang had only turned three pages of the documents in her hands in half an hour—she couldn’t focus on anything. He didn’t know whether this joke was meant to comfort Yu Chen or herself.

 

At the same time, her words revealed a piece of information: this wasn’t the first time Yun Xunlan had undergone such major surgery involving multiple organ replacements and body repairs.

 

Pei Xingting was able to join the royal medical team precisely because the previous pharmacist had gotten old. To ensure the surgery would be foolproof, Yun Xunguang promoted him to be Yun Xunlan’s new pharmacist.

 

At this moment, no matter what jokes Yun Xunguang made, Yu Chen couldn’t laugh. His throat felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand, making it extremely difficult to make any sound. Even when he forced himself to speak, his voice was hoarse and rough: “Your Highness the Crown Princess, why would… the Third Prince be poisoned by insect venom?”

 

Yun Xunlan had only just come of age this year and had never been to border battlefields where insectoids appeared. His terrible “War Psychology” grades would never allow him to go either. The fact that there were real insectoids on the experimental insect planet seemed to be something both Yun Xunlan and Yun Xunguang had only learned today. So why would someone who had no way or reason to contact insectoids be poisoned by insect venom?

 

Yun Xunguang also murmured the question: “Yes… why indeed?”

 

“For everyone else, insect venom is probably an accident.”

 

She put down the documents in her hands, fatigue slowly appearing in her gaze—a fatigue that came from within: “But for him, it’s hereditary.”

 

Yu Chen’s blue pupils were filled with disbelief: “…Hereditary?”

 

Empress He Chubai of the Galactic Empire had indeed died three years ago, and the cause of death was insect venom.

 

He was the fleet captain of the Yaoguang Legion commanded by Emperor Yun Qihe, jointly guarding the borders with the emperor and fighting for many years. However, he was unfortunately poisoned by insect venom when Yun Xunlan was three years old, and died twelve years later—three years ago, when Yun Xunlan was fifteen.

 

Now, Yun Xunguang was telling him that Yun Xunlan was poisoned by insect venom because of heredity.

 

He inherited perfect looks, noble golden eyes, and insect venom that couldn’t be removed like a curse from his parents.

 

“On December 31st, 6999 in the Galactic Federation Star Calendar, when my mother was three months pregnant with Lanlan, during a mission to rescue Nebula Federation mecha designer Professor Ran Xuechen, the warship was shot down by Severir insectoid king insects.” Yun Xunguang looked down at the table. “I remember this day very clearly.”

 

At that time, He Chubai wasn’t yet the captain but the vice-captain. Captain Mu Weizhou—Mu Xingyu’s mother—gave the last escape pod to He Chubai, exchanging her own sacrifice for He Chubai’s survival.

 

So later, He Chubai and Yun Qihe adopted Mu Xingyu, making him the Second Prince of the Galactic Empire, to thank his mother for her contribution to the empire and her act of saving He Chubai.

 

Yun Xunguang closed her eyes, then opened them after a moment and asked Yu Chen: “How much do you know about Severir insect venom treatment technology?”

 

“Not much.” Yu Chen said. “I only know that after being poisoned by insect venom, one can delay… ultimate death through frequent blood transfusions and replacement of damaged organs.”

 

Insect venom is like a drop of ink falling into a pool. It will dissolve, spread, and be diluted until invisible, but as long as you don’t drain all the water from the pool, it will always exist in that pool water, then continuously replicate itself, finally turning the entire pool of clean water into a pool of black ink.

 

A pool can be emptied of all water and then refilled with new water, but how can a person simultaneously replace everything from skin to bone, from blood to flesh?

 

This is impossible.

 

“Yes, blood transfusions and replacement of damaged organs are common treatment techniques that can be used to treat betas, alphas, and omegas.” Yun Xunguang nodded. “But actually, alphas and omegas have other treatment methods.”

 

She raised her hand to touch her nape: “The strength of an alpha’s body comes from alpha pheromones produced by their glands. These pheromones make alphas’ self-healing abilities particularly strong, so alphas are the slowest to die after severe poisoning. The higher the level, the slower they die.”

 

“They won’t die until all their alpha pheromones are exhausted.”

 

Yun Xunguang lowered her hand and looked at Yu Chen with a forced smile: “But do you know? The fastest to die aren’t the physically weakest omegas.”

 

Yu Chen roughly guessed the result: “…Betas?”

 

“That’s right. Betas die the fastest because their bodies can’t retain alpha pheromones. So when their bodies become too weak to endure organ replacement surgery, they die. This time period won’t exceed two years at most. Omegas, however, can rely on marking to receive alpha pheromones, thus extending their survival time.”

 

“Fifteen years—that’s the extension limit my mother tested.”

 

“As for the limit time for alphas.” Yun Xunguang’s eye rims gradually turned light red. “…I don’t want to know.”

 

Why didn’t she want to know?

 

Because currently, Yun Xunlan was the only alpha who had been poisoned by insect venom for eighteen years and was still alive.

 

Yu Chen’s pupils suddenly contracted, then gradually dilated, becoming increasingly dim and melancholy along with his gaze.

 

“The human body has limits of endurance. Lanlan was an SSS-level alpha when he was very young, but he isn’t anymore.” Yun Xunguang pressed her eyes and blinked away the moisture. “When he comes out later, his level will definitely drop again. To E? Or F? I don’t know anymore. It definitely won’t get better.”

 

Yu Chen frowned, not understanding: “But his pheromone pressure is still SSS.”

 

It might even be higher than SSS, since SSS level was just the limit of measuring instruments, not the true highest level.

 

“This is probably related to his mental power. We don’t know the reason.” Yun Xunguang said. “His birth and survival are already an incredible miracle. No one differentiates secondary sexual characteristics at three months in the womb.”

 

“If he hadn’t differentiated, he wouldn’t have been able to survive until birth.”

 

This explanation was already Yun Xunguang’s beautified version.

 

The real situation was that Yun Qihe would have forced He Chubai to abort this child.

 

Because the child’s development required the father’s pheromone assistance—Yun Xunlan would take away the alpha pheromones that He Chubai received from Yun Qihe to survive, accelerating He Chubai’s death, and Yun Qihe wouldn’t allow this to happen.

 

So everyone had already accepted this child’s death, but he miraculously differentiated into an alpha and used his own pheromones to nourish his mother.

 

After his birth, Yun Qihe named him “Lan.”

 

Lan means mist in the mountains, pervasive and mysterious like a riddle.

 

**

---