In the span of one month, Chu Hui successfully passed the written exam and interview at the Federation Shipborne Research Institute, advancing to the final qualification review stage. When the notification arrived, he happened to be preparing to video-call Liang Qiao. A dozen or so seconds later, the connection went through, projecting the figure of someone in a patrol uniform.
Before Liang Qiao left for Cangshan City, Chu Hui had stuffed a follow-mode holographic robot into her suitcase—about the size of a palm, capable of automatically tracking a person and the objects they touched, then forming a holographic projection from the most optimal angle. When the two connected, it was as if they still occupied the same space. Chu Hui had been quite fascinated the first time he used it, repeatedly marveling that modern technology saved long-distance relationships.
Just like at this very moment, Liang Qiao's figure was projected at the foot of the bed. She raised her hand to take off her uniform jacket, her every movement no different from how she usually was at home. Chu Hui propped his chin on his elbow, staring openly at the smooth lines of muscle along her back, not saying a word for quite some time.
It wasn't until Liang Qiao, having changed her clothes, glanced back and said, "What's wrong?"
Chu Hui said, "Can you take off the tank top too?"
Liang Qiao said, "Say that again and I'm putting more clothes on."
Chu Hui let out a huff and said, "Can't I even look?"
Liang Qiao ignored him, sitting down along the edge of the bed, and the projection followed suit, showing the phantom outline of half a bed.
He scooted a little closer to the foot of the bed and asked, "How was today? Busy?"
"Not too bad. Went on an underwater patrol."
Between Cangshan City and the Forbidden Zone lay the wide Delta River. This river was dense with tributaries, frequented by undercurrents, and subject to dramatic seasonal water level fluctuations. Viewed from above, it resembled a massive web of gray-blue veins, tightly connecting the Old Third District to Forbidden Zone 3. To this day, certain stretches of the river still retained remnants of old Federation infrastructure and layers of deposited pollution.
Because these things held a certain research value and danger, only organizations or individuals licensed by the Maritime Administration had been permitted to enter. Since reporting to the security station, the most common task Liang Qiao had was joining other security officers on underwater patrols, to prevent anyone from wandering in by accident or deliberately slipping in among them.
Chu Hui said, "Do you have to go underwater every day?"
"No, we have a rotation schedule," Liang Qiao said. "Today it was my turn to verify and register incoming and outgoing vessels. Xi Yan went underwater."
She had mentioned that name a few times, and Chu Hui knew who it was. He asked, "Isn't she from the Medical Adaptation Institute? She has to go underwater too?"
Liang Qiao said, "They don't pay much attention to specialty here." The Union Security Agency's restrictions on specialization weren't as strict as the Research Institute's—anyone who met the physical standards and passed the assessments had a chance to enter. The core of their talent selection lay solely in whether one could complete assigned tasks and emerge victorious in conflict.
The two chatted casually for a bit as usual, until Chu Hui finally told her the news that he'd passed the written exam and interview, asking, "So? Am I impressive or what?"
His tone carried a hint of smugness, wanting to be praised, and he immediately followed up with, "Is there any reward?"
Liang Qiao wasn't surprised by the result, and asked, "What do you want?"
Chu Hui smiled, hugging his pillow as he rolled over, about to speak when Liang Qiao flatly tossed over two words: "No."
Chu Hui's smile froze, and he said indignantly, "I haven't even said anything yet!"
Liang Qiao remained silent, her eyes conveying a "I know exactly what you're about to say" message.
Caught red-handed, he showed no sign of irritation. "So you didn't miss me at all?"
Liang Qiao replied, "I miss you with my mind."
"I never said you missed me with anything else," he said, narrowing his eyes at her with a smile, lips slightly curved upward. "I just came out of my heat cycle, you can't expect me to be completely free of desires this quickly."
Liang Qiao gave him another look. "It's been three weeks."
"What about three weeks?" Chu Hui said. "The moment I see you, I—" He didn't voice the last two words, only mouthing them silently. A trace of helplessness flickered in Liang Qiao's eyes. "Behave."
"Aren't I already behaving?" he said, growing bolder with each word. "I didn't even touch myself during my heat cycle. The moment I saw your name, I didn't dare move."
The "name" he mentioned was one he'd written himself—after finishing, he'd deliberately taken a photo and sent it to Liang Qiao, who had just arrived in Zangshan City. In the photo: a fogged-up glass door, the smooth curve of waist and hips reflected in the mirror, and written in the same spot as that tally mark from last time—"Liang Qiao's Exclusive"—followed by an arrow with unmistakable intent.
Recalling that image, Liang Qiao's jaw tightened slightly, and she rubbed her fingertips in a gesture of concealment. "You haven't washed it off yet?"
"If it fades, I'll touch it up. When you come back, you can wash it clean for me," Chu Hui said without a hint of embarrassment, beaming. "Though honestly, I think it looks pretty good. What do you say I get it tattooed on?"
"…"
After a moment of silence, Liang Qiao abruptly stood up. Seeing the hint of triumph in Chu Hui's smile, she paused for two seconds before saying, "I'm going to take a shower."
The robot with automatic human-tracking followed her movements, maintaining a suitable viewing distance at all times. Liang Qiao only remembered its existence when she reached the bathroom door, glancing back at it with her hand on the doorframe.
Chu Hui still lay lazily on the bed watching her, as if certain she would let him in.
Liang Qiao closed the door behind her.
"Hey—I won't talk anymore, okay?"
With no figure to track in the space, the image disappeared. Fortunately, she could still hear some sound. Chu Hui suddenly felt bored, rolled over, punched Liang Qiao's pillow, then hugged it to his chest and rested his face against it.
There were several messages waiting outside the video call—from Sheng Fuzhou, Chaoye, Chu You, and a few other friends. He scrolled through them one by one, replying perfunctorily, then began flipping through photos of himself and Liang Qiao to the sound of running water.
…
By the time Liang Qiao emerged from the bathroom, the person on the bed had already fallen asleep. She muted her own side of the call, continued tidying her clothes and books, and finally sat down at the desk to work on the work report she hadn't finished yesterday.
With her gone, Chu Hui had sprawled out to occupy the entire bed, wearing thin sleepwear—a short-sleeved top and shorts. The pant legs were rather loose, revealing a large expanse of fair leg, and on the inner thigh, faint traces of black handwriting could still be seen.
…He really hadn't washed it off.
A slender pen twirled between her fingers, finally landing with a sharp tap on the desk. She knew that if she wanted to regain her focus, the best move would be to turn off her communications. But as the pen was picked up and twirled once more, that person continued to sleep peacefully not far away.
…After their first formal meeting, they were immediately thrown into the assessment grounds. It was her first time as team leader, and she wasn't familiar with her teammates' personalities or strengths, unsure how to assign tasks. The team members chattered away discussing battle plans, and soon two of them hit a disagreement, demanding that she and Chu Hui, who had remained silent throughout, take sides.
Faced with the argument, she defaulted to silence. Seeing that she wouldn't speak, Chu Hui gave a perfunctory twitch of his lips and said, "Why ask me? I'm not the team leader."
Hearing this, the others suddenly remembered that this taciturn Alpha was actually the team leader for this assessment. Two of them, who clearly knew each other, exchanged a glance and said, "How about we meet at the finish line?"
This was a common approach in many randomized team assessments—since scores were calculated by team unit, if a group failed to mesh from the start, they would typically split up to find familiar faces in the assessment grounds and regroup with their randomly assigned teammates at the finish.
Chu Hui shrugged indifferently. "Not my problem."
As for Liang Qiao, she would never force anyone to walk with her either, and she again expressed her stance through silence.
The three of them left in two separate directions, leaving Chu Hui and Liang Qiao standing where they were. He sized up the Alpha beside him and said, "You didn't install a language module?"
Liang Qiao caught the roundabout insult and gave him a cool look.
"Forget I said anything," Chu Hui said, deflated. "I've heard you speak before—with that Alpha." He just couldn't remember where. Though the school was large, there was frequent cross-college interaction and team-ups, so running into her a few times wasn't unusual. Plus, she was easy on the eyes, so remembering her was only natural.
"Mm," Liang Qiao acknowledged.
"Another time I saw someone confessing to you." That was routine for Liang Qiao as well, and her reaction was always the same—she'd nod and say, "I'm currently paying off a debt, so I'm not considering a relationship for now."
That was what Pei Qiansu had taught her—it worked better than any excuse she'd used before. If anyone pressed further, she'd cite a precise figure of 6.74 million, a number that would gradually decrease over time to sell its authenticity.
His saying that meant he'd overheard it. Liang Qiao didn't respond this time, walking ahead on her own. Chu Hui found it mildly amusing and fell into step beside her. "Don't walk so fast, team leader."
Liang Qiao turned her head to look at him. "You want to come with me?"
Chu Hui smiled. "What else? Didn't I draw the same team as you?"
That assessment went unexpectedly smoothly. Despite having only two members, they never hit a stage they couldn't clear for lack of numbers—it was almost easy. The bonus task they drew at the end was assembling a small shipborne model in a holographic environment. Chu Hui raised an eyebrow with a smile when he saw the prompt in her hand. "Lucky to be with you, team leader."
Too close. Liang Qiao had never had an Omega stand this near to her before—she could even clearly see his fine, upturned lashes. She instinctively stepped back half a pace to make room before handing him the prompt. As he headed toward the simulation pod, she added out of nowhere, "Are you like this with everyone?"
He didn't catch it, turning back to ask, "What did you say?"
She was startled by her own unusual behavior and quickly wiped all expression from her face, saying, "Nothing."
The smile was truly too dazzling, she thought silently to herself.
…
The report really couldn't be written any further. She set down her pen and walked slowly to the bedside—his figure was a stream of light formed by data, something that could easily pass through, illusory and unreal. Yet even though she knew this clearly in her heart, her body was still pulled by that thread-like, clinging longing, and she reached out to gently brush her hand against his cheek.
The next day's task was again to accompany the boat on an underwater inspection.
It was still early, and the river surface was shrouded in heavy, damp mist, as if it hadn't fully awakened. The faint outline of the distant shoreline could be seen, cut into discontinuous gray shadows by the shifting fog.
"Check the sealing interfaces, oxygen circulation, and communication delay parameters." Today Xi Yan was assisting her in going underwater. Liang Qiao checked her underwater work suit and communication system as instructed, then gave her a signal that everything was complete.
Xi Yan swiped across the light screen beside her, confirmed all data connections, and only then said, "Go underwater."
As the workboat came to a steady stop at the edge of the floating platform, several other teams nearby had also finished their checks. The hatch opened, and a rush of cold, damp air tinged with metal immediately swept in.
Liang Qiao stepped down the ladder into the water, turning back one last time to confirm her status with Xi Yan.
The final step disappeared beneath the surface, and the descent began quickly. The water layers rapidly swallowed the light, and her vision gradually shifted from pale gray to deep blue, then sank into a near-colorless darkness. The searchlight cut through the water, illuminating the limited structural outlines ahead.
Aged support pilings, sedimentary rock layers, and some metal fragments worn smooth by the water.
Today's task was simply to confirm the integrity of this underwater support structure and do a routine sweep of the surrounding area for any suspicious signs. Since arriving in Zangshan City, Liang Qiao had performed this same task four or five times—it wasn't difficult for her.
But real currents were often more complex than simulated environments. Because the support pilings varied in structure, irregular backflows could form between pilings with narrower gaps, easily causing unstable parameters. Liang Qiao held onto an auxiliary piling beside her, maintaining her breathing rhythm while watching the constantly fluctuating scan data on her wrist, pressing the touch-scan panel against the structural surface.
Pressure distribution was stable, no signs of crack propagation—everything was normal.
"That's about it. Move forward another thirty meters and you can come up."
After about ten-plus minutes, Xi Yan's voice came through the earpiece. Liang Qiao hummed in acknowledgment and swam forward as instructed.
"Done." All the data had been updated and uploaded, and Xi Yan began guiding her back. Liang Qiao took one final look around, turned, and prepared to return the way she came.
"Go straight ahead—can't you see clearly?" Noticing that Liang Qiao's coordinates weren't moving, Xi Yan frowned and asked. Soon, a muffled voice came through the communication channel, saying, "Wait a moment."
After a brief silence, the image on the light screen began to shift. Liang Qiao said, "Look toward the searchlight, zoom in."
"What is it?" She too had noticed that small patch of unnatural shadow at the edge of the searchlight's beam—it didn't look like a school of fish or sediment.
"I'll go take a look."
The view gradually drew closer. Liang Qiao adjusted the angle, sweeping the light directly across that area—the outline of an old pipeline covered in water plants emerged, its outer protective layer clearly aged with localized seepage reactions. The system automatically flagged it as medium risk.
"I'm coming up." Liang Qiao uploaded the precise coordinates before turning back around. Xi Yan noted while recording, "This area is far too old. Relying on repairs alone isn't a solution."
"It's a location issue."
"Yeah, being close to the Forbidden Zone means we can't make major moves even if we had the money," she clicked her tongue and said, "Year after year we try to rebuild and year after year it never gets done. Instead of building an Extraterrestrial Ring City, we should fix things on the ground first."
The seniors at the Public Security Bureau often said the same thing, but Liang Qiao didn't respond to her. She reached out to brace against the auxiliary pile and began swimming upward.
As the coordinates shifted, the view quickly went from dark to bright. By the time she fully surfaced, the dense morning fog had already dissipated. The river surface was bathed in the golden-red glow of sunrise, shimmering with ripples of light.