Minesweeper Game
Gu Zeyu was incredibly easy to deceive. Any of his twelve brothers could easily lead him around by the nose. When his Eldest Brother said Lu Yinian needed him, Gu Zeyu believed it wholeheartedly, thinking the Omega had said it himself. Despite his lingering fear of the robust Omega, Gu Zeyu, who had always been honest and brave since childhood, saw himself as a brick of the Interstellar Alliance, ready to be moved wherever he was needed.
After Gu Zeyu reluctantly left with a truckload of snacks and stuffed animals, all his brothers gathered around the Eldest Brother to ask why he had sent Xiao Yu into such a harsh environment. The Eldest Brother lowered his head and opened the family group chat, which excluded Gu Zeyu, and sent a message about an interstellar war report. After a long silence, Sixth Brother, the doctor, was the first to speak: “Lu Yinian will take good care of Xiao Yu, right?”
The Eldest Brother didn’t answer, instead opening another group chat with thirteen members. He looked at the messages Gu Zeyu had sent, each one filled with wailing voice notes: “Brothers, I’m going to protect my Omega. Don’t miss me too much. If you really miss me, you can come visit. Here’s the address of the military camp and a list of snacks to bring me if you do.”
Second Brother opened the 128mb image file, but after five minutes of loading without success, he decisively closed it.
“Brothers, this is my first time traveling. I’ll update my social media every day, so remember to like and comment!”
Third Brother and Fourth Brother took out their phones, opened Gu Zeyu’s profile, and promptly blocked his updates.
“Brothers, remember to take out the cranberry cookies hidden in my blanket, the Little Pudding in the wardrobe, and the cheesecake on my desk. They only have a short shelf life, so don’t waste the gift of good food.”
The Eldest Brother turned off his phone, feeling at peace, and said, “Second Brother just donated eighteen billion Lu coins in military supplies. For the sake of the money, he will, right?”
Second Brother the Merchant glanced at his account balance, took a deep breath, clutched his chest, and nodded painfully.
Gu Zeyu’s truck was stopped at the first checkpoint. After the sentry saluted and asked him to get out of the truck, he contacted headquarters through the internal line. Standing straight, he said, “You can go in, but the truck can’t.”
Gu Zeyu immediately got back in the truck, directed the driver to turn around, and sped off, disappearing in a flash. The sentry watched the truck vanish, stunned, and after a moment of hesitation, reported through the internal line, “Yes, he ran off. He came alone.”
“Reporting, sir, there’s a situation I’m not sure if I should mention. Yes, sir, their little truck headed toward the mine-clearing training area.”
In the game of mine-clearing, there are many areas to explore at the first click, but as you continue, the safe zones shrink until you’re almost certain to step on a mine. Just when it seemed inevitable, Gu Zeyu, as if blessed with divine luck, shouted for the driver to stop.
Sitting in the passenger seat of the truck, the cramped space was filled with his seven gopher dolls, leaving only his round eyes visible. His eyes, like glass beads, always seemed to glisten, making him look innocent and harmless. With a lollipop in his mouth, he mumbled to the driver, “Why do I feel… um… you… might be… um… lost…”
The driver, a gopher Omega, watched Gu Zeyu clutching seven dolls identical to himself and didn’t dare make a sound, fearing he’d be mistaken for the eighth doll. He scratched his head and peered out the window, seeing nothing but endless sand with a few flags planted here and there, making it hard to tell where the road was. He cupped his face, twitched his whiskers, squinted his eyes, and said seriously, “Gophers have poor eyesight. Maybe you could check what the flags say.”
Gu Zeyu, buried in the pile of dolls, struggled to sit up, placing the dolls under his seat for height. Leaning against the window, he read aloud word by word: “Dangerous area, do not enter.”
He turned to the little gopher Omega and said, “They said not to enter. Let’s head back the way we came. What if we get fined? Do you have money? My Second Brother said he’s out of money, and the military doesn’t need money, so I only brought a bunch of coins from my piggy bank.”
The gopher, sensitive to money, immediately turned the truck around, only to find that the wind and sand had erased their tracks. Swallowing hard, he weakly asked, “Which way do we go to avoid a fine?”
Gu Zeyu was dumbfounded, leaning back against the window, looking at the flags planted all around. He poured a pile of coins from a small lion plush bag and began counting them seriously.
When Lu Yinian arrived, he pulled Gu Zeyu directly off the truck, scattering coins everywhere. His Alpha, in front of everyone, was bent over picking them up one by one. The little gopher Omega fainted on the spot upon learning they were in a minefield and was swiftly carried away by several soldiers.
Lu Yinian’s adjutant, a high-ranking lion Alpha, had often wondered what kind of Alpha would marry Lu Yinian. Now, standing beside the stern-faced Lu Yinian, he watched Gu Zeyu, with a small lion-headed bag, running toward them, sweat dripping from his forehead, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
Gu Zeyu, ever polite, cheerfully greeted his Omega and said, “Could you two move aside a bit?”
Lu Yinian didn’t move, but the adjutant, seeing Gu Zeyu on the verge of tears, pulled Lu Yinian aside. Once they stepped away, Gu Zeyu picked up the last coin from Lu Yinian’s footprint, blew the sand off in the sunlight, and smiled sweetly, saying, “All set!”
That night, after Lu Yinian brought Gu Zeyu into the camp, Gu Zeyu learned that Lu Yinian had ordered his truck to be sent back to the Gu Family. When he tried to run out again, Lu Yinian picked him up like a puppy and tossed him back into the room.
The little Alpha’s crying increased the Pheromone concentration in the room, but for an Omega of Lu Yinian’s level, it was like scratching an itch through a boot. However, Gu Zeyu’s cries were so loud that a crowd gathered outside the door to eavesdrop. Lu Yinian, at his wit’s end, found that the more he yelled, the louder Gu Zeyu cried. He could only suppress his anger and ask, “Your Eldest Brother already signed for the truck. What do you want to do about it?”
Gu Zeyu, sobbing and gasping for air, pointed a trembling finger at Lu Yinian and said, “I can’t sleep without my dolls… sob… can’t sleep!”
Lu Yinian, veins throbbing at his temples, drew his gun only to put it back in his pocket with restraint. He picked Gu Zeyu up and tossed him onto the bed. Lying flat beside him, he said sternly, “Hold me, sleep with me, will that do?”
Gu Zeyu, his bottom sore from the toss, finally stopped crying after exhausting himself. Tentatively, he wrapped his arms around Lu Yinian’s sturdy arm, pressed his face against it, and mumbled, “Too hard, not comfortable. I still want my…”
“Shut up! Are you an Alpha or not!” Lu Yinian roared like a lion. After a moment’s hesitation, Gu Zeyu replied softly, “Yes, I am. And I’m your Alpha. I’m here to save you from your heat.”
Lu Yinian’s hand moved to his gun holster again, but before he could draw it, he noticed Gu Zeyu’s even breathing. Turning his head, he saw the tear-streaked Alpha had fallen asleep, clutching his arm with a pitiful expression.
Gu Zeyu’s features were small and cute, his skin fair and delicate, with a hint of alluring pink on his cheeks from the tear stains. Lu Yinian stared at him for a long time, feeling a strange, ticklish sensation in his heart, as if a kitten had scratched it. His hand slowly moved to Gu Zeyu’s head, ruffling his thick curls, and he murmured with lingering fear, “Idiot, I’m not saving you because I like you. If you died, your twelve brothers would drive me crazy.”