“Pod locked. Reserved usage time: 6 hours. Countdown commencing.” The moment the mechanical prompt finished, the door’s access control let out a locking sound.
Ning Shuyin stood frozen in place, staring at the lone bed in the center.
A locked door…
6 hours…
Situ Linchen didn’t even turn his head, walking straight to the room’s control light screen and connecting his Light-brain.
His voice was steady and cold: “Confirm the date in the system.”
“Do… do we have to date like this?”
Ning Shuyin’s eyelashes trembled slightly, her voice full of nervousness.
Situ Linchen’s fingers moved across the light screen, his tone utterly calm: “How do you want to date? This is the most direct and efficient way.”
Ning Shuyin stood stiffly in place.
“But I…” Just as she was about to say something, the Light-brain on her wrist lit up.
Situ Linchen had already confirmed his side of the date.
A line of blue text appeared before Ning Shuyin:
【Date Status: Awaiting female party’s confirmation.】
【Date Location: Resonance Pod】
“What is a Resonance Pod?” Ning Shuyin’s voice was both confused and afraid.
Subconsciously, she had some wild guesses, but she didn’t want to think in that direction.
Situ Linchen finally turned around, frowning as he sized her up: “You’ve never resonated with anyone?”
He looked at her as if she were some unknown species.
“No.” Ning Shuyin answered in a low voice.
His pitch-black pupils contracted slightly, clearly very dissatisfied.
“First time? That… seems a bit troublesome.”
Troublesome?
A wave of unknown fear struck her.
Could it be that today was the day she’d meet her end here?
Wasn’t it too soon?
I haven’t even dated anyone yet…
Will it hurt a lot?
Ning Shuyin’s mind raced with wild thoughts, her feet unconsciously retreating. But that locked door was there—she couldn’t open it at all.
Besides, outside was the vast emptiness of space. Even if she got out the door, where could she escape to?
Situ Linchen didn’t give her time to think.
He raised his hand, pointing at the bed, and commanded: “Get on.”
“Get on?” Ning Shuyin couldn’t believe her ears.
She hadn’t even had time to process it.
A faint metallic clink.
Situ Linchen had already unfastened the belt of his uniform.
The black belt was pulled out and tossed aside.
He began unbuttoning his uniform.
First button, second button…
His movements were brisk, without a moment’s hesitation.
The heavy military uniform was shed, revealing the thin, form-fitting combat suit underneath.
The suit was light gray, made of a special material with a matte finish, as if it had merged with the lines of his muscles.
Situ Linchen saw her standing motionless and stopped undressing.
Those eyes looked directly at her, carrying a trace of impatience.
“What, do you want me to help you?” he said in a low voice.
“I don’t want to undress!” Ning Shuyin nearly shouted.
She clutched her clothes tightly, as if grasping the last bit of security she had.
Situ Linchen’s gaze swept over her clothes.
“The material of your clothes will probably catch fire in a moment.”
He spoke as if discussing not clothing, but an insignificant piece of firewood.
“If you don’t want to take it off, fine. If you get burned, you can heal yourself.”
He paid her no more attention, raising his hand to draw the light gray combat suit downward from the collar.
The seemingly intact garment, as if possessing a life of its own, split open in response, and he tossed it at the foot of the bed.
The last layer of restraint was stripped away.
Ning Shuyin could barely bring herself to look directly.
A body full of power and wildness.
When he wore his tightly fitted military uniform, only a sliver of his neck could be seen.
But at this moment, his statue-perfect body was fully revealed. Beneath the smooth, taut muscle fibers, a explosive power capable of tearing apart stars seemed to pulse.
Before he even drew near, the oppressive presence of a male super-strong one had already made it hard for her to breathe.
Seeing Ning Shuyin’s evasive manner, he merely let out a cold snort.
The next second, the world spun.
Before she could see clearly, Situ Linchen was already in front of her.
She felt support at her knees and back.
Effortlessly, he scooped her up horizontally and threw her heavily onto that cold bed.
“Nngh!” Ning Shuyin’s back slammed against the bed surface.
Before she could even struggle, a massive shadow loomed over her.
Situ Linchen leaned in close, pinning her body firmly down.
His arms braced on either side of her.
Ning Shuyin was completely imprisoned within this man’s domain.
Those deep, bottomless black eyes seemed to hold a gathering storm.
The distance between him and her was so close that their noses nearly touched, so close that she could see her own panicked reflection in his pupils.
“Don’t… don’t do this.” Ning Shuyin pleaded aloud.
A Perseids SSS-Rank male Ability User possessed immense power.
If it came to intimacy, her ordinary human body simply could not withstand it.
Only lovers who had both undergone Awakening could achieve that delicate balance, transforming violent energy into tender entanglement.
Ning Shuyin was nothing but a fragile mortal shell.
Even a single drop of Situ Linchen’s genetic fluid could cause her blood vessels to burst.
This was the cruel law carved into the racial genes.
“Let me go, I beg you! Don’t…” She struggled, pleaded.
Her knee pressed against his lower abdomen, her ankle kicked against the taut muscles of his thigh.
But every struggle was futile.
It was as though he could not hear her at all.
Through the thin fabric of her clothing, she felt the low, deep vibration coming from within his chest.
It was the panting he was forcibly suppressing in his throat.
“Ning Shuyin, help me.”
Situ Linchen’s body temperature was scorching hot, his aura firmly enveloping her.
Fine beads of sweat hung on his forehead.
Within a few breaths, the air around him began to distort violently.
“Zzzzt… zzzzt…”
Eerie sounds spread through the room.
Visible arcs of energy, like living things, crawled and darted beneath Situ Linchen’s skin, illuminating his exquisite musculature as though it were molten lava.
The surrounding air grew thin.
Fragmented weapon phantoms surfaced in the air—broken blades, twisted gun barrels, shattered armor fragments.
This was Situ Linchen’s Special Ability [Weapon Manifestation].
The vast majority of male Awakened in the Perseids possessed only ordinary Special Abilities—that is, combat capabilities that were “stronger and faster than normal people.”
Only those of S-Rank and above would Awaken a special ability.
[Weapon Manifestation] was a top-tier special ability.
These weapons should have been perfect embodiments of power and slaughter, each one razor-sharp.
But at this moment, they appeared shattered, on the verge of destruction.
Every crack on the weapons let out a mournful cry. Every fragment told of extreme agony.
The shattered weapon afterimages quivered madly around him and her, humming with a low, deep drone.
Extreme terror choked Ning Shuyin’s breath.
She could only watch as he pressed down toward her, inch by inch.
“It hurts! Don’t.” Her voice had already gone hoarse.
He seized her wrist and pressed it relentlessly above her head—against the cold metal restraint ring at the head of the bed.
Ning Shuyin closed her eyes in despair.
Her body, exhausted from excessive struggling, had lost all strength.
She was like a captured beast, merely waiting for the shackles that were about to come.
A soft “click”—followed by another.
But—
The expected restraint never came to her wrists.
Ning Shuyin opened her eyes in shock.
The man above her caged her beneath him like a lion encircling its prey.
But the iron rings at the head of the bed were locked around his own two wrists.
He gazed at her deeply, a nearly uncontrollable surge churning in his eyes.
His scorching breath brushed against her lips.
His voice was low and hoarse, desire and restraint intertwined.
“Ning Shuyin, now, enter me.”