The last time the two of them talked, it had just been fake concern, polite words they didn’t mean. That kind of concern didn’t need to happen all the time, so what could the other party possibly want by contacting him at this hour?
Ji Chenxi frowned slightly and slid his finger to open the message.
【Find some time, let’s meet】
【For what?】 Ji Chenxi asked, though he had no intention of meeting at all.
【To talk about cooperation. The night after tomorrow, Ji Zhiqing will make her move. You can choose to meet me tonight or tomorrow morning. If you miss it, that’s it. I’ll be leaving the Imperial Star tomorrow night.】
Ji Chenxi tilted his head, a hint of confusion showing on his face.
If it was just fake cooperation to probe him, there was no need to directly say when Ji Zhiqing would act. And that line about leaving the Imperial Star tomorrow night…
He glanced at Chi Zhuo.
Sensing his gaze, Chi Zhuo gave a soft “Mm,” and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Chenxi openly showed him the message in his hand. “Yesterday, he even deliberately mentioned in front of that person that I should find an omega. I guessed he might already suspect something about us. But today, he suddenly wants to talk about cooperation.”
And that wasn’t all.
Ji Chenxi operated his system, hacking into the main network just enough to check. He found that the First Prince’s forces had quietly started moving. They had originally been heading toward the palace, which matched the forces possibly cooperating with Ji Zhiqing, him, and Chen Xing. But now, under the cover of night, they were retreating.
Chi Zhuo fell into thought. At the same time, he also received a report from Bai Han.
Recently, Chi Zhuo had asked Bai Han to keep an eye on all major forces, so he naturally caught this abnormal movement immediately and reported it.
In the short time Ji Chenxi hadn’t replied, Ji Anze sent another message. This time, it included a picture—a broad alpha hand holding a beautiful ruby necklace.
Right after the image came another message.
【You can message Chi Zhuo and let him see this necklace. See what he says.】
Ji Chenxi tilted his head toward Chi Zhuo. It was clearly a necklace meant for a woman.
Chi Zhuo’s originally calm expression shifted slightly. It was obvious he recognized the necklace.
“What’s special about it?”
“It’s a family heirloom of the Chi family. It’s always worn by the lady of the family head. That ruby is an extremely rare gemstone. The Chi family mined over a hundred planets, yet in thousands of years, they only found this one. It’s said to be blessed by the gods, able to cure all illnesses. But in truth, it has nothing to do with any blessing. A healing-type omega with 3S-level mental power once stored the core of their power inside this gemstone.”
Ji Chenxi’s eyes flickered. A 3S-level mental power… and a healing type.
“Seeing this gemstone is like seeing the mistress of the Chi family. Looks like it’s that lady’s intention.” Chi Zhuo’s expression had already returned to normal.
“That lady… you mean the First Prince’s biological mother?”
“Mm. It’s not a secret. My father was obsessed with Lady Iris. If she hadn’t married His Majesty the Emperor, my mother wouldn’t even exist.”
For a moment, Ji Chenxi didn’t care about the older generation’s love stories. Instead, he wondered—which was worse: growing up as an unwanted illegitimate child, mocked by others, or growing up as the child of researchers, treated like an experiment?
Looking at the ruby in the photo, Chi Zhuo rarely recalled something from the past.
That man had always been cold to him. He acknowledged his identity, gave him wealth and endless resources, yet never spared even half a smile. Chi Zhuo knew there was a special photo in that man’s room—a woman with red hair and red eyes, dazzlingly bright. Meanwhile, he himself had black hair and black eyes, nothing bright about him. He wasn’t wanted. He was a product of schemes.
Yet when he seized the position of family head from that man, the man smiled at him for the first time in his life.
He had nothing to say. No curse, no blessing, not even regret. The only thing he said was that if Lady Iris ever needed the Chi family, he hoped Chi Zhuo would help, for the sake of all those years of upbringing.
Even if the man didn’t like him, he had never treated him harshly.
So Chi Zhuo agreed.
Chi Zhuo gently placed his hand on Ji Chenxi’s shoulder. “If he wants to meet, then let’s meet. We choose the location.”
If someone had told Ji Chenxi a few days ago that he would sit down with Ji Anze to calmly discuss cooperation, he would’ve laughed it off. But now, it was exactly what was happening. He and Chi Zhuo sat together, and across from them was Ji Anze, his face still pale and sickly.
“Shall we exchange some information first?”
“You can start with yours.” Ji Chenxi remained unreadable.
“Our side isn’t too complicated. Not long ago, I suffered a huge loss. I barely survived after being rescued. But I still don’t know who attacked me. Ji Zhiqing also suffered quite a bit earlier, but she’s now aligned with a force and plans to act directly. I’m technically her partner. In fact, we’ve maintained a vague cooperative relationship for a while—after all, we both wanted you gone. But that cooperation was fragile. The force she’s working with has an army of artificial humans. At first, I suspected you were behind what happened to me. But after learning about that army, I realized who the real culprit was. Do you know someone named Chen Xing? A scientist, and also the leader of a major force.”
Ji Chenxi’s eyes shifted slightly. “Chen Xing?”
“Probably. My uncle found out.”
“You know I wasn’t originally an alpha. Cases of betas differentiating into alphas are rare. Usually, they become omegas. The reason I became an alpha is because I took a large amount of illegal drugs. Those drugs came from a very secret organization after going through many channels. My uncle got curious whether that organization had other operations, so he investigated further.”
“I can’t tell you everything, but it’s a place that conducts all kinds of human experiments. Secondary differentiation is just a small part. Their most impressive achievement is artificial humans. Their leader’s codename was a strange set of sounds. My uncle used some methods to finally figure out the translation—it’s Chen Xing. It even sounds a bit like Chenxi. If that force hadn’t existed for over a decade, I might’ve suspected you were the one behind everything.”
Oh? Illegal drugs.
Chi Zhuo’s gaze darkened.
The reason he first paid attention to that human experimentation group was also because of illegal drugs. He had found the organization too, but didn’t know the leader’s codename was Chen Xing.
Ji Chenxi had long known Chen Xing’s identity wasn’t simple.
In their seven-person group chat, everyone looked flashy and carefree on the surface, but in reality—one was the leader of the largest star pirate group, one was the top-ranked assassin, one was the biggest arms dealer, one was an S-rank omega and heir of a powerful family, one was a true financial tycoon, and Ji Chenxi himself was a master hacker, the Third Prince of the Empire.
So what about Chen Xing, the one who created the group?
Ji Chenxi’s curiosity had driven him to investigate everyone. He knew all their identities—except Chen Xing’s. He only knew he was a genius scientist. He hadn’t expected his hidden identity to be even more terrifying.
“That organization is called Cocoon?” Ji Chenxi asked.
Ji Anze looked surprised. “You know it?”
Of course he did. Back when Ji Chenxi roamed the star network, he had stumbled into knowing Chen Xing and the others. There was no way he hadn’t looked into those dark forces. Cocoon was one of the most hidden among them. The reason he noticed it was because many horrifying human experiment cases all vaguely pointed to it.
By now, the night had grown deep.
Ji Chenxi felt a bit cold. He shifted slightly, and a coat—the one he had casually taken off earlier—was draped over him.
After doing this, Chi Zhuo’s expression didn’t change at all. He only asked, “How did you find out about our relationship?”
“Someone sent it to me secretly. No solid evidence.”
Looks like it was from the same group that had sent him messages before. Or rather… all from Cocoon.
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
But Ji Chenxi suddenly laughed. It was abrupt, and the other two both looked at him.
“What are you laughing at?” Ji Anze even thought for a moment that Ji Chenxi had gone mad. But if Ji Zhiqing really had that force backing her, their chances weren’t high. Ji Anze had only been so bold because he believed he also had a connection to Cocoon and could offer them just as much.
“Nothing.” Ji Chenxi quickly stopped laughing and instead started discussing the details of cooperation.
Ji Anze had come for that purpose anyway. Even if he didn’t really want to get involved, if Ji Zhiqing reached that high position, she would definitely want to eliminate all threats.
The three of them talked until the faint light of dawn appeared outside.
After Ji Anze left, Ji Chenxi lowered his eyes.
“Bad mood?” Chi Zhuo asked.
Ji Chenxi wasn’t surprised by his sharpness. He nodded.
“The Chen Xing he mentioned is probably the same one I know. And that Chen Xing is the friend I told you about. He’s already started making moves against me. Not long ago, I was still discussing with him how to dismantle my second sister’s forces step by step. But in reality, he had already connected with her. Makes me look kind of ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
Ji Chenxi was smiling as he spoke, but deep in his eyes was cold starlight. His clear blue eyes turned dark and unreadable.
Chi Zhuo took his hand. His long, warm fingers pried Ji Chenxi’s hand open in a firm, almost forceful way, then interlocked their fingers. A faint trace of alpha pheromones spread out—light, gentle, harmless—wrapping around Ji Chenxi.
“Besides him, you have better friends. They won’t betray you.”
After saying that, Chi Zhuo paused. He lifted their interlocked hands to his lips and placed a very light kiss on them. At the same time, a soft whisper slipped out—
“I won’t either.”
“So certain?”
“Mm. Because I’m completely crazy about you. And I expect it’ll last a long time.”
“How long?”
“Probably… a lifetime.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
