The starship landed smoothly on the barren planet Theta. Several of Chu Yanyan’s assistants were already waiting in front of the special passage. Chu Yanyan signaled one of them to take over the huge suitcase pushed by the starship’s steward, and only then did he lean on his cane, being supported by Chu Yanqi as they both got into the car together.
These assistants had followed Chu Yanyan for a long time, and a single look was enough for them to understand his intentions. Although they were clueless about the reason, they still silently placed the rather heavy suitcase by Chu Yanyan’s feet rather than in the other vehicle transporting the luggage.
The vehicle started, and the interior of the cabin was dead silent, with only the sound of tires rubbing against the ground. Chu Yanyan propped his chin on his hand, looking out at the gray snowflakes drifting past the window while his fingers slowly stroked the smooth top of his cane.
The downtown area beneath the overpass was brightly lit with people coming and going, showing no trace of the scars left by past wars. Although planet Theta still used the Empire’s numbering system, it had successfully broken away from the Empire’s rule and gained independence during the second war between the Empire and the Federation hundreds of years ago.
Instead, the scarce network of connections and unique geographical environment provided a survival opportunity for the savagely growing black market, which even continued to expand with the tacit approval of those in power in the Empire and the Federation.
For some reason, those under-the-table dealings had undergone a complete transformation and outwardly become entirely legal corporate groups.
This little trick seemed to be something Ying Yu had played first.
Thinking of the man who was always at odds with him, Chu Yanyan let out a cold laugh.
“What are you smiling about? Speaking of which, why did you want to save a slave? I certainly don’t think you’d be reluctant to part with a flier.” Chu Yanqi turned on the shielding device inside the car and asked.
Chu Yanyan raised his eyes and lightly tapped the tip of his shoe against the suitcase. “Open it and see who is inside.”
“What is this? Can’t you just say what you mean?” Chu Yanqi frowned and directly entered the password. Inside, the slave she and Chu Yanyan had seen on the starship was curled up.
The slave had clearly been cleaned up and changed into a relatively decent set of clothes, and the gruesome wounds exposed outside had also received simple treatment. Most of his hair had turned white, his hands were bound behind his back, noise-canceling earplugs were stuffed into his ears, and the blindfold bound across his face covered most of it while a nasal feeding tube twitched slightly with his breathing.
Perhaps because he had been given calming medication, the slave only twitched and did not actually wake up. Various other tubes also extended from his body, connecting to the life-support system inside the suitcase.
“Why make it so disgusting? I hate this sort of thing.” Chu Yanqi bit her lower lip. “So who is he?”
“The rule for transporting slaves over there is just like this. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Chu Yanyan’s tone was flat. He bent down, cupped the slave’s neck, and slowly peeled off the other person’s blindfold.
Chu Yanqi gasped sharply. She covered her mouth, still unable to conceal the astonishment in her tone. “This, this, this is really that madman’s. How could he possibly be there?”
This face, or rather the fear Ying Yu had once brought her, once again shrouded her together with the gloom of the past.
Chu Yanyan nodded. He methodically stroked the slave’s lips, his gloved hand bit by bit pulling out the cotton stuffed inside the slave’s mouth.
“Unless…” His tone was gentle, though his movements were hardly gentle at all. “There really are people in this world who look identical.”
The man’s subsequent breathing grew heavy. Even in unconsciousness, the slave greedily craved the rare fresh air.
“Then isn’t that too much of a coincidence? How did it happen that he was dragged out to feed the star beasts right when you arrived?” Chu Yanqi leaned away in disgust. “Brother, bringing him back so directly doesn’t seem like you.”
Chu Yanyan chuckled softly. “If it’s not a coincidence, wouldn’t that be even better? If you think about it, if he deliberately appeared before me and was certain I would save him, who would be the person behind him?”
“Ying Yu?”
“So, don’t you think what he can bring me is much more precious than any star beast?” Chu Yanyan took off his gloves, casually balled them up, and threw them into the vehicle’s trash can.
He had better not be disappointed a second time.
Chu Yanyan scrutinized the painful yet still handsome face, then put the blindfold back on him.
The faint light reflected by the snowflakes dyed the dim night sky white. Chu Yanyan sat in front of the large desk, slowly flipping through the documents compiled by his subordinates.
The previous owner of this estate had run out of options some time ago and handed over all his assets under his name to Chu Yanyan, begging only to keep his life.
Chu Yanyan had a team under him specifically handling his overt industries, but a pile of entangled matters and various bad accounts also made him wait for nearly a week.
He rubbed his brow, put down one of the documents, took off his glasses, opened his cigarette case, and lit a cigarette. He had been smoking for quite a few years, but he didn’t have much of an addiction, only having one occasionally when he was troubled, like right now.
The scarlet cigarette tip flickered behind the virtual screen. The data of the slave named Xiao Yi was messy and severely lacking, not even recording his original name and family.
After all, it was in that kind of fish-and-dragon-mixed place.
At the very beginning, this slave had a record of trying to escape, but as he was repeatedly transferred, such records grew fewer. Similarly, the value of this slave became lower and lower, until in the end he was directly discarded and almost became the star beast’s rations.
Chu Yanyan stared at the expressionless face on the screen and revealed a bizarre smile. Ying Yu, that Alpha, actually found an Alpha as a lover.
He looked at the final remark and narrowed his eyes. This slave cannot speak.
The door was knocked on twice lightly. Chu Yanyan closed the screen and then spoke. “Come in.”
A young and beautiful Omega walked up to Chu Yanyan with lowered brows and eyes. “President Chu, news just came in. The state of the slave you brought back is not quite right. Miss asked me to come and ask if you would like to handle it personally.”
Chu Yanyan frowned, extinguished the cigarette in his hand, and used his cane to support his body as he stood up. “Understood.”
Just passing by the reception room, Chu Yanyan casually picked a piece of candy from the fruit bowl and put it into his pocket.
On the way to the basement, Chu Yanyan had already watched the surveillance footage from this period, so when he saw the mess and the slave being pinned down by several people, he merely raised an eyebrow at Chu Yanqi in understatement.
Chu Yanqi crossed her arms, her tone complaining. “Brother, it’s fine if you don’t care about the little toy you brought back and let me look instead, but you didn’t mention he would bite. He bit several of my men’s arms until they bled without saying a single word.”
“Why is he so bullying the weak and fearing the strong? He didn’t act like that toward the star beast.”
“That just shows he still has plenty of vitality.”
The Alpha, who had been struggling endlessly, suddenly quieted down upon hearing him speak, lifting his head with all his might while his gaze remained hollow and numb.
Chu Yanyan neither dodged nor avoided him, looking down at him from a high vantage point.
And the moment he met Chu Yanyan’s gaze, he subconsciously lowered his head again.
Perhaps because there was nothing inside those emerald green eyes, Chu Yanyan actually had the illusion of seeing that man from the past once again.
Full of spirit.
Looking down upon everyone.
On that day, the Alpha daughter of the former governor held a grand wedding. Chu Yanyan had a batch of cargo whose transportation required the governor’s assistance, and naturally, he was willing to package the favor as a wedding gift to send out, while Ying Yu was conspicuously on the guest list.
Although Ying Yu did not appear, the wedding gift he sent completely disrupted the wedding.
The virtual screen, which had originally been playing a happy video of the newlyweds, suddenly shifted to a scene of the groom and someone else secretly eliminating outsiders.
The ensuing chaos went without saying. After watching enough of the show and stepping out for some fresh air, Chu Yanyan saw Ying Yu’s favorite car.
That legendary little lover was sitting in the driver’s seat acting as a chauffeur, seemingly turning his head to admire the chaos inside the venue, and happened to cross gazes with Chu Yanyan.
In an instant, the atmosphere froze.
Chu Yanyan smiled gently, staring unyieldingly at the man without retreating at all.
The man was chewing gum, pulling down his sunglasses to reveal those transparent, emerald-like eyes that were sharp yet tinged with mockery.
Then he looked toward the back seat, covering his mouth as if saying something to the person sitting in the back, and immediately after, just like a child, smiled at Chu Yanyan.
The smile was as sweet as arsenic and as poisonous as a scorpion.
Presumably, Ying Yu was sitting in the back.
It was also a cause for celebration. With Ying Yu pulling such a stunt, the former governor naturally couldn’t get away unscathed, and the connection Chu Yanyan had just made was severed just like that.
Chu Yanyan gripped his cane tightly, intending to walk over, but the man suddenly made a gunshot gesture toward Chu Yanyan, which happened to coincide with the gunshot in the venue. Even for Chu Yanyan, he was momentarily dazed.
Right now, this arrogant Alpha was forced to kneel in front of Chu Yanyan with scattered focus, a pale complexion, and cold sweat covering the corners of his eyes and brows, yet he did not even dare to raise his head.
Chu Yanyan looked at him calmly until he trembled slightly, after which he smiled, leaned on his cane, and walked leisurely toward the slave. “Let him go. If you can’t even manage a single slave, are you still going to say it isn’t your fault?”
“My fault? To be able to say such words, President Chu, you really have no conscience. Let’s go.”
As soon as he was freed from anyone’s restraint, the Alpha suddenly retreated backward. Seeming to pull on his wounds, a low growl like that of a beast came from his throat. He slowly curled himself up in the corner of the wall, his left hand tightly gripping the wrist of his deformed right hand, his knuckles turning white with force as his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Chu Yanyan merely lifted his foot slightly, and the person in the corner shrank back.
The cane tapped lightly against the ground. Chu Yanyan’s gaze fell on his twisted right hand, revealing a troubled expression. “The doctor said you have quite a few injuries on your body. How are you feeling now? Does it hurt? Are you hungry? You scared the doctor away, so what are we going to do next?”
Xiao Yi froze for a moment. This gentleman was different from everyone else he had ever seen; not only did he save him, but he also asked him so gently if it hurt.
He stood in a daze for a long time before blankly shaking his head.
Chu Yanyan sat down unhurriedly on the chair on the other side, adopting a quite relaxed posture. “It must be very cold over there. Do you want to come over and sit and chat?”
Xiao Yi remained silent for a moment, still curled up in the corner of the wall, cautiously raising his head to appraise Chu Yanyan through the gap between his arms.
“Right, you can’t speak, but that doesn’t matter. I believe you can understand what I mean, and that is enough.”
Silence.
Just when Chu Yanyan felt his patience was about to run out, the man moved his knees, slowly crawling on his knees to the side of his feet, where the ankle ring symbolizing his slave identity was particularly conspicuous.
“Good boy.” Chu Yanyan pulled out a piece of candy. “For you.”
Xiao Yi subconsciously stepped back a little, staring at Chu Yanyan’s palm without moving.
Chu Yanyan peeled off the candy wrapper and placed it in his palm. “Eat it. Rest assured, there is no poison. Your blood sugar is too low, and I’m afraid you’ll pass out.”
Xiao Yi was stunned for a moment, sluggishly shook his head, made a few hand gestures that Chu Yanyan could not understand, and then slowly opened his mouth, his tongue gently licking the candy in Chu Yanyan’s hand before taking it in.
The feeling of the tongue brushing across his palm was slightly ticklish. Chu Yanyan maintained his smile. “If you can’t walk, we’ll have the doctor take a good look at you later. What is your real name? I can’t keep calling you Xiao Yi all the time.”
Another strange question.
Who would care about a slave’s name, especially when he didn’t even know what his own name was anymore.
Xiao Yi opened his mouth in bewilderment, using his other free hand to gesture while emitting hoarse, unpleasant single syllables.
Chu Yanyan’s brows furrowed involuntarily, but they quickly returned to their original detached expression. “I know many things have nothing to do with you. You just need to tell me the things you know about Ying Yu. Don’t worry, since we had a fleeting encounter, I will give you a sum of money, cancel your slave identity, and let you live a carefree life afterwards.”
Upon hearing the name Ying Yu, Xiao Yi only felt a splitting headache. He clutched his head, his whole body falling forward onto Chu Yanyan’s knees, crying out in painful agony while trembling as if having a stress response.
A trace of surprise flashed across Chu Yanyan’s face. From his perspective, this did not look like a faked reaction, yet he merely watched the Alpha’s struggle with cold eyes. His tone remained gentle, but he disdained to give this slave, who was weeping from stress, any comfort.
“It doesn’t matter. Think about it slowly. We still have plenty of time.”
The basement at this time of year was still bitterly cold after all, and an indescribable pain crawled upward along his ankles.
This kind of pain constantly reminded Chu Yanyan how vicious an Alpha the seemingly docile Alpha before him had once been with.
Who knew how many ruthless plans he had jointly participated in and plotted.