Special Mission
This boring game came to a halt when Qi Ying had only 8 cards remaining.
As usual, the second lieutenant came up to deliver dinner. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Qi Ying hurriedly shutting off the intercom, shoving a stack of playing cards beneath the keyboard, and knocking over a glass of water as he pulled back his hands.
“You’re playing cards?”
“Uh…” Qi Ying awkwardly wiped up the water on the desk. After a two-second pause, he asked with little hope, “Wanna join?”
Setting the meal tray down, the second lieutenant habitually rested his hand against his gun holster: “I don’t have time.”
Straightening his back, he glanced at the monitor. Lu Mengzheng was sitting on the bed, engrossed in reading.
“Here’s the bite guard you asked for—fingerprint lock.” The second lieutenant tossed over a black bundle. “Though I don’t get what you need a bite guard for. Isn’t he acting pretty normal?”
Qi Ying wagged his index finger back and forth: “Don’t be deceived by an Alpha’s appearance. Generally speaking, suppressants work better during the day than at night. I’m worried tonight might be rough, so it’s better to be prepared just in case.”
“But you don’t even have a gland…”
Qi Ying tossed the bite guard lightly in his hand—strong enough, yet lightweight: “Isn’t getting bitten by a rabid dog painful too?”
The second lieutenant thought he made a fair point: “True, but not going inside is the safest option.”
“He needs injections, temperature checks, and care when he loses control.” Qi Ying spread his hands. “Otherwise, if he slams his head against the wall and dies, or finds something to slit his wrists, how do I answer to Mr. Zheng?”
Be that as it may, the second lieutenant still felt he was overly attentive toward the prisoner. They only needed Lu Mengzheng alive—at least appearing undamaged by inhumane treatment on the surface—without needing to be meticulously considerate about every single detail.
“Suit yourself,” the second lieutenant warned. “Either way, you’d better keep your distance from him and not let your guard down. He’s no ordinary soldier.”
Qi Ying froze for a second: “What do you mean?”
The second lieutenant didn’t answer, walking straight toward the elevator. Stepping up to the door, he scanned his card and pressed the button, only to find the elevator display showing maintenance. Opening his communicator, he inquired about the situation on the surface; the soldier there replied that it would take another five minutes.
“It was already under maintenance when I came up just now, and now it’s out of service completely.” The second lieutenant knit his brows and shut off the communicator. “What a waste of time.”
“Just how many things do you have to do in a day?” Qi Ying, never one to pass up causing a little stir, chimed in. “Aren’t there tons of people outside? Are they wringing work out of you alone?”
The second lieutenant said, “Everyone outside is on guard duty, and guards aren’t allowed to move without authorization. I’m the only errand runner.” He checked the time anxiously. “I still have at least five tasks left to do.”
Qi Ying stood with him for a moment: “Look at it this way: you suddenly have five free minutes now, so you should be happy instead.” Feeling around in his pocket, he pulled out a lemon candy and offered it. “Want one?”
The second lieutenant shot him a hesitant look before finally taking it, peeling off the wrapper, and popping it into his mouth.
“So, spill more about Lu Mengzheng then?”
The second lieutenant squinted from the sourness, licking the inside of his cheek: “You signed a non-disclosure agreement, right?”
“Of course I did.”
The second lieutenant squatted down by the artificial flowers. Qi Ying hurriedly squatted beside him, the two of them looking like a pair of corporate wage slaves venting about their boss while taking a dump.
“Where were we?”
“You said he’s no ordinary soldier.” Qi Ying lowered his voice. “Just how un-ordinary is he?”
“He is…”
The second lieutenant’s voice dropped even lower, and Qi Ying tilted his ear toward him.
“…the son of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the New Asia Republic, and the youngest Major in all of New Asia.”
?
Qi Ying was a bit surprised. In that case, this man truly can influence the war situation. Jasu could easily use him as a hostage to negotiate terms with the New Asia Republic.
“How did he end up here all by himself, and how did you guys capture him?”
The second lieutenant absentmindedly plucked a small yellow flower in front of him and shook his head: “We aren’t clear on that either. Someone inside the New Asia Republic betrayed his whereabouts, which was how he got arrested in An’an. But we’ve never known his motive for infiltrating Jasu alone. The superiors suspect he carries some special mission.”
“You guys didn’t ask?”
“He refuses to speak. Severe torture is definitely out of the question—if he can’t be presented in good shape at the capital, it will impact the peace talks. We tried tricking him into taking truth serum, but he didn’t take it, and the Lieutenant who tried to force-feed him almost got beaten to death by him…” The situation has dragged on until now.” Recalling that scene, the second lieutenant was still plunged in deep shock. “He’s truly ruthless. Nosebleed ran all over the room—I spent three days wiping it up…”
That white tablet really wasn’t a sleeping pill—it was truth serum.
The AFPC logo stamped on it was indeed because it was a military-grade special drug specifically used for interrogations.
For some reason, Qi Ying suddenly felt an ache of sympathy. Falling silent for a moment, he asked, “He’s going to be taken to Jilong in a month?”
“Yeah. Originally, the government side wanted the military to transfer him immediately. But considering the situation in Jilong is chaotic, and Storage Room 105 is further from the capital and more hidden, they plan to escort him from An’an to Jilong a month from now during the peace talks with the New Asia Republic and hand him over to the government. It’s safer that way.”
“What will happen to him then?”
The second lieutenant gave him a look: “If negotiations go well, he might be returned. But if they fail, it’s definitely a dead end. The superiors said they want to teach the New Asia Republic a lesson.”
Qi Ying watched as the second lieutenant accidentally snapped off the yellow flower, quietly stuffed it into the fake grass, and stood up.
“That’s why I told you to interact with him less.” The second lieutenant raised his hand to press the elevator button, which was now back in service. “We don’t know his objective, his stance is different from ours, and most importantly—he’s most likely going to die.”
After the second lieutenant left, Qi Ying felt quite uneasy inside. Upon returning to the monitoring room, he no longer had the heart to pick on Lu Mengzheng.
Lu Mengzheng pretended to put down his book and pulled the cards out from beneath his pillow: “Not playing anymore?”
“Not playing, not playing…” Seeing that he was about to lose, Qi Ying shamelessly gave up, also worried that the guy might actually pull off some ultimate punishment. “We are evenly matched, neck and neck. Let’s call it a draw for now.”
He thought Lu Mengzheng would relentlessly press the issue, but in the monitor, the man merely pursed his lips indifferently, looking unbothered to fuss over it. This made Qi Ying feel all the more that this Major was actually quite a decent guy, making his chest ache with even greater sympathy when thinking about his situation.
Picking up the meal tray, he walked toward the containment cell and activated the conveyor belt: “Time for dinner.”
The meal tray quickly glided to the designated spot and stopped. Qi Ying didn’t leave right away, waiting until Lu Mengzheng picked it up before saying hesitantly, “…I also asked for that for you…”
“That?”
“A bite guard,” Qi Ying replied immediately. “Will you need it?”
Lu Mengzheng went quiet for a moment: “Give it to me.”
Soon, the black bite guard also vanished through the slot. Qi Ying heard the faint clanking of metal as Lu Mengzheng handled it, and after a while, Lu Mengzheng asked, “How does it unlock?”
Qi Ying replied: “Uh… my fingerprint.”
Both of them fell silent for a short while.
Qi Ying quickly added: “I know, it’s a bit ambiguous. I didn’t want it to be this way either, but it doesn’t mean you’re my Alpha or anything like that…”
“It’s fine,” Lu Mengzheng interrupted him. He didn’t care about such harmless trivialities; the key was to avoid casualties among innocents. “I’ll put it on when necessary.”
Qi Ying realized that after getting those answers from the second lieutenant, his curiosity about Lu Mengzheng, far from diminishing, had only grown.
Just like the troops, he desperately wanted to know why this young master of the Minister of Foreign Affairs didn’t just stay comfortably back in the New Asia Republic, living the high life as a high-and-mighty Major, but instead insisted on barging into the lion’s den into an enemy country all by himself. On top of that, why was such a wealthy, powerful, and handsome S-rank Alpha actually dealing with his own heat periods all alone?
Was that reasonable?
It was beyond bizarre.
Could it be that he… was impotent?
Could Jasu possess some special cure for erectile dysfunction that was too embarrassing to reveal to others, which was why he had secretly snuck over alone?
Thinking about it that way, it wasn’t impossible, since South Asia was indeed far more known for these types of folk remedies compared to New Asia.
The more Qi Ying thought about it, the more coherent his logic became.
So the essence of the current situation was a butterfly effect: a Major seeking aphrodisiacs flapped his wings, sparking a tornado that might alter the course of the war for New Asia?
Bizarre. Absolutely bizarre.
The world really is a makeshift stage, Qi Ying chuckled to himself as he sprinkled fish food for Koukou.
However, even if this butterfly had a private health issue, he was still a decent butterfly. Becoming a pawn or a casualty in a game of war was just too cruel. After all, no matter how influential the Minister of Foreign Affairs was, he might not be able to shift the stance of the New Asia Republic. If the interests of the two nations proved difficult to align, this butterfly would likely struggle to fly safely back to New Asia. He wondered if Lu Mengzheng even understood the fate awaiting him in a month.
With a complex mix of feelings, Qi Ying bade Lu Mengzheng goodnight. The prisoner’s tone had gradually shifted from his initial impatience to a calm composure. As a fixed and harmless bedtime routine, Lu Mengzheng felt he could at least comply with it to spare his own ears from suffering.
After finishing that day’s log, the exhausted Qi Ying slowly fell asleep in his chair. It wasn’t until two in the morning that he was jolted awake by urgent calls from the communicator.
“Are you there?”
“Give me another shot of the high-strength suppressant!”