Just as Ning Shuyin was lost in her wild thoughts, she inadvertently glanced sideways.
On the Light-brain screen beside Situ Linchen’s wrist, a name she was all too familiar with was displayed prominently—[Gu Lei].
It appeared to be a surveillance report.
[Target: Gu Lei]
[Location: Planet A, Seventh District, Ancient Civilization Research Institute]
[Status: The target shows no energy fluctuation whatsoever; confirmed no signs of Awakening. Threat level classified as: Ordinary Person.]
Ning Shuyin was startled.
Situ Linchen was monitoring Gu Lei.
And he was also confirming whether Gu Lei had Awakened… What did he want to do to Gu Lei?
Ning Shuyin knew that there was an old grudge between Situ Linchen and Gu Lei.
As a genius scholar, Gu Lei enjoyed extremely high prestige among the common people. Not only had he refused to join the Alliance Fleet faction, but he had also publicly criticized Situ’s aggressive strategies.
This had caused Situ Linchen to lose the support of two important forces in the council.
In the original novel, the reason Situ Linchen pursued Su Qianqian was to take away something Gu Lei held dear.
Just as Ning Shuyin was lost in thought for a moment, a large hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
“What are you looking at?”
Situ Linchen’s dark eyes were fixed on her, swirling with undisguised suspicion.
“Do you know Gu Lei?” His voice carried a biting coldness. “Pay attention to him? Like him?”
Oh no!
This was a death-trap question!
[Target character Situ Linchen’s favorability has decreased!]
[Current favorability: -70 (Suspicion)]
The system broadcast the real-time changes in this man’s emotions.
[Host, Situ Linchen harbors intense competitiveness and hatred toward Gu Lei. If he discovers you care about Gu Lei, it will intensify his hostility, and the consequences will be unimaginable!]
The system’s warning instantly snapped Ning Shuyin back to her senses.
She could not reveal any interest in Gu Lei.
Moreover, she still had to use these three dates to raise her favorability in Situ Linchen’s eyes as much as possible.
Otherwise, once the third date ended, she would not escape death.
“Marshal…”
Ning Shuyin raised her head, forcing herself to look directly into those storm-gathering eyes.
She tried hard to make herself look both innocent and aggrieved. “I don’t know Gu Lei. I’ve only… heard of him.”
“Heh.” A mocking smile tugged at the corner of Situ Linchen’s mouth. “Another woman who’s heard of Gu Lei. Relying on that pretty face of his and his mystifying erudition, he certainly knows how to win the favor of the opposite sex.”
His words were filled with contempt for Gu Lei. And he believed that Ning Shuyin’s feelings toward Gu Lei were those of admiration and unrequited love.
For the sake of the main storyline, for the sake of her own life, Ning Shuyin could only do her best.
“No!” She lifted her face, one hand reaching to grab his clothes.
But this man was not wearing a shirt on his upper body, so she could only give up. She could not exactly grab… that, could she?
She looked at him cautiously. “I admire you.”
The moment the words left her mouth.
[Target character Situ Linchen’s favorability has increased.]
[Current favorability: -50 (Dangerous).]
Ning Shuyin let out a long breath of relief in her heart.
This Situ Linchen’s favorability was truly more unstable than a hundred-year-old woman’s blood pressure.
Thanks to her experience as a corporate drone in the real world, she had honed the acting skills to bend and stretch as needed.
She could spout nonsense without batting an eye.
She silently pressed her palms together in her heart:
I’m sorry, Marshal! Deceiving you was wrong of me. In your long, ten-thousand-year life, I’m just a temporary worker who leaves once the KPI is done—nothing more than a speck of dust. Please don’t hold it against me!
The man before her softened his expression slightly.
He released her wrist, allowing her to step back two paces.
“Swish.”
A piece of loose fabric fell from her body, and only then did Ning Shuyin realize her predicament.
Her earlier struggle to survive had pushed her already tattered uniform past its limits, and it had completely fallen apart.
Large patches of skin were exposed to the air.
And there she was, face to face with him.
Ning Shuyin’s face burned red again in an instant.
The shame and embarrassment of being disheveled made her want to flee.
But where could she run to?
This room only had medical equipment.
As for the bed—there wasn’t even a sheet on it.
Just as she was hesitating, wondering whether she should beg him to let her use the military uniform on the floor to cover herself, a chime sounded in the room.
“Visitor Mu Ze requests entry. Please confirm whether to allow access.”
Ning Shuyin started, instinctively wrapping her arms around herself, dreading being publicly humiliated in this state.
At that moment, her wrist was seized by a force once again.
Situ Linchen reached out and pulled her toward him. She was pressed against him again, with no distance between them.
Ning Shuyin’s heart leaped to her throat.
At a time like this… what was he going to do?
“Don’t you dare say a word about the Resonance and energy loss of control,” he warned in a low, stern voice close to her ear.
Ning Shuyin quickly nodded.
Before she could react, the next second, she was pulled behind him.
The man’s tall frame stood like a wall, blocking her completely from view, shielding her disheveled figure entirely.
Only after doing all this did he speak in a deep voice: “Allow entry.”
The doors of the Resonance Pod slid open to both sides.
When Secretary Officer Mu Ze entered, a gentle smile still lingered on his face.
Behind him followed a woman in a military uniform.
She was tall and slender, with a head of neat, short brown hair that accentuated her cold, striking beauty.
A pair of phoenix eyes, with slightly upturned brow tails, revealed a seductive charm that contrasted with her stern expression.
On her shoulder straps was the insignia of a B-Class Navigator, and on her chest hung the emblem of the Fleet Medical Department, marking her as someone of no ordinary status.
The newcomer was You Lingfei, the chief medical officer of the Alliance Fleet.
But the moment she stepped into the room, she was stunned by the shocking sight before her.
The Marshal was standing in the center of the room, bare-chested, his muscles clearly defined.
Scattered across the floor were his coat, trousers, combat suit, and an unbuckled metal belt.
Behind his tall figure, a woman’s silhouette was faintly visible. She looked plain, her clothes in tatters, arms wrapped around herself, only a pair of anxious eyes showing.
What made You Lingfei clench her teeth even harder was the wide bed. On its pure white surface, a stark patch of blood was a jarring, alarming sight.
Her gaze swept over all of this rapidly, finally fixing on the used Body Repair Medical Gun on the low cabinet.
Her nails nearly dug into her palms.
A sour, bitter feeling mixed with jealousy and grievance rushed up her throat.
Something had clearly happened in this room.
The Marshal… had he really gone that far with such a mediocre woman?
To the point where they even needed to use repair equipment?
You Lingfei’s red lips were nearly bitten through.
Mu Ze’s gaze also lingered on that bloodstain for a moment.
But his expression remained calm and composed as he stepped forward briskly.
“Commander, these are the prepared clothes.” He handed over two sealed garment bags.
Situ Linchen reached out to take them, his gaze sweeping over one of the bags bearing a high-end custom women’s fashion logo.
“Unnecessary.” He uttered the two words coldly to Mu Ze, casually tossing the bag to Ning Shuyin behind him.