The next day, when LAN woke up, he found the little merman already dressed neatly and reading a book in the living room.
“Good morning, how did you rest last night?” the little merman took the initiative to ask sweetly.
“Not bad.” LAN had the illusion of sunlight streaming into the cabin; however, flying in the vastness of space, there was only artificial lighting above his head.
“I haven’t slept this peacefully in a long time,” he added.
“Oh…” The little merman looked thoughtful.
Wearing his commander’s uniform, LAN fetched a glass of water and sat down at the dining table, watching the little merman not far away place a bookmark and close his book.
…It was more than just bright sunlight; it felt like being bathed in the incomparable grace of a morning after the rain.
“Let’s have breakfast in the room,” the little merman suggested.
“…Alright.”
Whatever the little merman said was fine.
LAN left a message for Number Nine via his smartwatch, and five minutes later, a small dining cart delivered a steaming hot breakfast.
An Ming ate his bread and ham, taking small sips of hot milk, when he suddenly asked, “What will you be doing today?”
“Hmm?” LAN was slightly stunned.
The little merman seemed to feel his question was somewhat abrupt and scratched his head.
“Meetings,” the mixed-blood Dragon replied quickly. “We need to wrap up the survey work on the previous flame-system planet, and there’s a lot of preparatory work for the upcoming resource replenishment and team recruitment.”
He paused and added, “I’ll probably be busy all day, and tomorrow as well.”
“Mm-hmm…” An Ming’s ears turned red, but he hesitated and continued, “Can you take me with you? I want to observe.”
“…” LAN hadn’t expected the little merman to make such a request.
Seeing that LAN didn’t respond immediately, An Ming lowered his head guiltily.
He gritted his teeth and mustered his courage, saying, “I have officially joined the Justice Army. Not just meetings I hope to participate in the army’s various training sessions and missions later on.”
“However, I only want to participate in things related to you. That is to say, following you for training and going out with you.”
“My spiritual power is only D-level, but please give me some time; I can become your mecha maintenance technician.”
“During meetings, I can help prepare materials, project holograms, and act as your assistant. Even pouring water is fine!”
“So… is that okay?”
LAN: “…”
The little merman was actually making so many requests.
It was possible, of course. The little merman’s suspicion had long been cleared; if LAN still doubted him, he wouldn’t have let the little merman stay, let alone grant him access permissions for the entire Phoenix.
But it seemed… the little merman wasn’t quite sure of himself. Like a little plush toy with a tuft of hair, his face puffed up, his fair skin tinged with red, looking pink and soft… his dead-serious appearance was truly… too cute.
It made one want to reach out and bully him.
He wanted to tease him.
“Ahem.” LAN’s tone suddenly turned heavy. “Are you serious? I don’t need you to serve. I can provide for you very well.”
“I’m serious,” An Ming answered hurriedly.
Another moment of silence.
“I…” An Ming’s mouth puckered forward slightly, “I’m not a spy, really.”
LAN: “…”
“Heh,” LAN said. “Then you’d better not let me catch you in the act, little spy.”
Breakfast was almost finished. After saying this, the big bad mixed-blood Dragon took out a napkin and wiped his mouth elegantly.
Then he stood up, walked to the door, and prepared to head out.
An Ming shrank back at the dining table, not daring to move, staring at him blankly.
“Aren’t you coming?” the big bad Dragon urged.
An Ming’s eyes slowly widened.
“Ah? You… you agreed?”
“Yes.” LAN suddenly smiled; scaring the little merman was just too much fun.
An Ming’s face, which had been gloomy a moment ago, instantly bloomed like a flower. He trotted over, walked beside LAN, and looked up at him.
The two walked side by side toward the meeting room.
On the way, LAN kept reflecting on the little merman’s serious mannerisms and couldn’t help but chuckle again.
The feeling of being asked for things by the little merman wasn’t bad at all.
An Ming caught a glimpse of the curve of the big bad Dragon’s lips and realized he had been teased by LAN just now.
Little merman: …Hey?!
Later at the meeting, An Ming learned that in two days, the Phoenix would enter the Neverwinter Constellation in the public star sector, close to the Dragon race’s borders.
They would arrive at planet π-061-c, commonly known as Planet Blackmere.
This was a frozen tundra planet, far from its star, with long diurnal cycles, backward technology, and loose laws, but it possessed unique natural resources.
LAN and his subordinates decided on a plan to purchase a batch of inhibitor raw materials, fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and a large quantity of seeds here.
The little merman listened exceptionally carefully, even taking notes on his photonic notebook.
Not until his hand felt a warmth did he realize LAN had tucked a cup of hot water into his grasp.
“Thank you.” An Ming was overwhelmed by the favor.
How did it turn into LAN serving him instead?
“The Merman race cannot lack water; don’t just focus on stealing my secrets, little spy,” LAN said with a smile.
An Ming: “…”
The Zerg adjutant and the various soldiers, who had felt their boss was in a particularly good mood since the start of the meeting: “…”
Was the boss… just flirting?
Then it suddenly occurred to them: last night was the first night they spent together after the little brother officially stayed, right?
So…
A great Omega nourished by his True Alpha… was actually like this???
The tough Alphas all indicated: I ship it, I ship it!
After the strategic portion of the meeting was settled, LAN took the little merman and left first, leaving the specific execution details to Number Nine and Evan the two adjutants were excellent and reliable.
Besides, if the meeting lasted all day, the little merman would get bored.
With the spare time, LAN made arrangements after consulting the little merman.
He took An Ming to the mecha training ground and used the simplest practice mecha to teach An Ming the basic principles.
The little merman learned incredibly fast and was able to draw inferences; he quickly mastered the main skeletal structure of the mecha, as well as the key stress points that required the most maintenance. He looked quite professional and even asked LAN very sharp questions in return.
The mixed-blood Dragon was surprised and asked Number Nine to arrange a more systematic, personalized learning curriculum based on the little merman’s situation.
Number Nine, who was still in the meeting room finalizing the plan with everyone: “…”
“OKK!” he replied crossly through the training ground’s loudspeaker.
The next day, after the recruitment plan meeting for the Justice Army, An Ming expressed a desire to start physical training.
LAN readily agreed and took on the role of training instructor.
In the combat room, after the SSS-level Omega demonstrated several types of close-quarters combat techniques, he signaled for the little merman to mimic and practice.
To his surprise, the little merman was not only clever but also had excellent physical coordination. After only a few repetitions, his movements were both cool and standard.
The soldiers lifting weights nearby watched the whole time, praising him repeatedly. Although the little brother was only D-level, he at least had the right form!
An Ming also wanted to build muscle. After practicing some slow-motion sparring with LAN, he ran to the equipment area, eager to try.
He picked out a pair of the smallest dumbbells.
“Whoa, Officer An, you’re going to lift two at the same time?” everyone teased.
An Ming felt quite embarrassed.
“Ah? Is that okay?”
“Of course! You can lift ten at once if you want! We’ll help you!”
An Ming was somewhat amused. Before he transmigrated, when he was in college, he had joined a fitness club and knew that even small-looking dumbbells could be extremely heavy. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a blood disorder in his sophomore year and went through a cycle of dropping out, hospitalization, and chemotherapy.
An Ming decided to try lifting one first.
Whether it was because merman perception was different from pure humans, or due to the influence of the ship’s artificial gravity, the little merman just lifted it up.
It was much lighter than imagined.
“Impressive, impressive!” everyone burst into applause.
An Ming was also very proud. After putting it down, he glanced at the larger ones next to them.
His little look was so obvious that everyone saw it.
Good heavens! The little brother looked small, but he had a big appetite!
An Ming walked over and touched a heavy dumbbell about as long as a calf. Feeling everyone watching him, he didn’t move it.
The SSS-level Dragon behind him walked over and picked up the dumbbell with one hand as if he were lifting a foam box.
“Touch it like this.”
Awoo—? Although LAN was also covered in muscle, he looked well-proportioned rather than a bulky chest-muscle type; was he really this powerful?
An Ming was very cooperative, placing his hand over LAN’s hand, pretending that he was lifting it himself.
Hehehe, this feels pretty good!
Swish—
Two days flashed by. Work and training were packed, but An Ming enjoyed it and didn’t feel tired at all.
The only remaining awkwardness was at night. LAN didn’t talk in his sleep or make strange movements again, and An Ming himself slept soundly; generally, they were far apart when they fell asleep and weren’t touching when they woke up.
So, that bit of awkwardness gradually faded.
Of course, it was also lucky that the reaction to this pseudo-rut wasn’t intense, and no more accidents of biting people occurred.
The Phoenix sailed quietly through the endless universe along its established route.
Finally, the consistently dark portholes began to glow with a faint light. They had entered the target star system of the Neverwinter Constellation.
At that moment, the little merman was reading in the living room. Realizing the change, he ran to the porthole in surprise to look.
The ship was turning, and a colossal, deep-red star appeared before his eyes.
Its surface was visibly surging with undercurrents, occasionally ejecting unimaginable gas flows kilometers high.
This was the first time the Phoenix had been so close to a star.
“A Red Giant,” the mixed-blood Dragon explained behind him. “The star system where the Base Planet is located also has a Red Giant, an even larger one.”
“Base Planet?” An Ming had heard this name more than once.
“My home base,” LAN said. “Everyone gave it a beautiful name Sword Coast. Because it has a massive inland sea shaped like a greatsword.”
“Because its star is a Red Giant, Sword Coast has no sunset; it is always in a state of twilight.”①
“That sounds romantic.” The little merman was somewhat expectant; what would it actually look like?
The light from the star shone on the little merman’s face, plating him with a hazy golden glow, like a warm little prince stepped out of a fairy tale.
LAN’s throat bobbed.
“An Ming.”
“Hmm?”
“We arrive at Planet Blackmere in about 2 hours. I might need to stay down there for three days. Can you… give me a temporary mark?”
LAN had no choice. The little merman could effectively slow the rate of his spiritual sea’s atrophy, but it also created a dependency. The previous mark had already expired; let alone leaving for three days, even half a day might make him miss An Ming’s scent intensely.
Although he wasn’t in heat, a temporary mark would allow him to carry out the mission with more peace of mind.