At dusk, the villa by Jadeite Lake was lit with warm yellow lights. The long dining table was rarely so full.
Jiang Lijin sat at the head of the table, a glass of warm water by her hand.
Baal sat to her left, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing sturdy forearms.
Tinia sat on Jiang Lijin’s other side, rapidly swiping through a holographic screen, occasionally placing a piece of deboned fish onto her plate.
Chiron sat next to Rowan, expertly cutting his steak into even pieces.
The Little Emperor had spent all day at the Cabinet Building, and now, ravenous, his cheeks bulged with food. Tianyan and Tianque sat at the end of the table, quietly eating their rice.
Xiao Yi, wearing a chef’s hat and carrying a steaming pot of star-beast meat stewed with potatoes on two robotic arms, glided over.
(✧∇✧)
“Host, special star-beast meat stew with potatoes. I hacked into the Federation Logistics Department’s recipe database, combined it with Commander Baal’s taste preferences, and raised the spice level by three percent,” Xiao Yi said, a proud emoticon flashing on its screen. “Please taste it.”
Baal stopped his chopsticks, his brow furrowed sharply, his golden eyes coldly fixed on the silver-white metal shell.
“You hacked into the Federation Logistics Department’s database?” Baal’s voice carried suppressed anger, mixed with undisguised curiosity.
He knew this piece of junk was Jiang Lijin’s companion system, but he also understood the level of the Federation’s military firewall. “The Federation’s defense net is top-tier. How did a cooking machine break in?”
Xiao Yi’s screen switched to a smug, glasses-pushing emoticon (⌐■_■): “What’s so hard about that? I share the underlying database with the Star Mainframe. That Federation firewall is just a one-way glass door for me.”
As its words fell, the only sound in the dining room was chewing.
Except for Jiang Lijin and Chiron, who already knew, everyone at the table fell silent.
Tinia’s hand, holding fish, froze mid-air, and the fish “plopped” back onto his plate. Tianyan and Tianque both looked up, their expressions complex as they stared at the steaming pot.
Baal’s eye twitched, looking at Xiao Yi as though it were an antimatter bomb that could detonate at any moment.
Sharing a database with the mainframe? Was this a system or an ancestor?
“…Enough,” Jiang Lijin said, picking up a piece of potato and putting it in her mouth—it was well-cooked. “It just looked at recipes. It doesn’t steal your military secrets.”
Baal snorted, picked up a piece of meat, tasted it, and forced himself to swallow.
“The new batch of land combat mechs from Federation Military Industries are sturdier than this thing. If you need guards, I’ll transfer two heavy mechs from the Shield Squad to your yard. What else can this thing do besides cook and dig up people’s pasts? It’s too brittle to even stop a bullet.”
Hearing this, Tinia slammed his holographic screen down on the table, displeased.
“You roughneck, you just don’t get it,” Tinia rolled his eyes, his blonde hair swaying with the motion. “That’s Sister’s personal system. Do you understand what ’emotional value‘ means? Can your heavy mechs cook star-beast meat stew? Can they draw Sister's bathwater? All you know is fighting and killing. Sister needs attentive service.”
Baal shot a cold glare at him. “Kid, are you itching for a fight? Want me to throw you into the military’s boot camp for a few days?”
“What, you think you can start something in Sister’s home?” Tinia lifted his chin, relying on Jiang Lijin’s presence. “Try it.”
Seeing them about to bicker again, Jiang Lijin tapped her chopsticks against the bowl.
“Enough, eat your meal,” she sighed. “Whoever keeps arguing, go stand guard in the yard with Reanne. You’ve got good meat in front of you, and it can’t even shut your mouths.”
Tinia pouted, picked up his chopsticks again, and placed a tender piece of meat on Jiang Lijin’s plate. Baal withdrew his gaze, snorted coldly, and resumed eating.
Tianyan held back a laugh, putting a piece of greens on Tianque’s plate. Chiron used a napkin to wipe sauce from Rowan’s mouth, then glanced at Jiang Lijin and smiled gently.
…
After dinner, Chiron took Rowan upstairs to wash up. The six-year-old was low on energy, and after his bath, he fell fast asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
Downstairs in the living room, a few people sat around the sofa. Xiao Yi brought over cups of digestive tea and discreetly retreated to a corner to standby.
Jiang Lijin took a sip of tea.
“I’m planning a trip to Guixu.”
At these words, the living room went quiet for a few seconds. Tianyan’s hand, holding the teacup, paused mid-air, and Tianque glanced over with raised eyes.
“The cabinet has just been cleaned out. The old nobles have been crippled. Rowan’s identity is now official, backed by the academy’s report—the throne is stable.”
Jiang Lijin set down her cup. “While things are calm, I’ll go investigate Guixu thoroughly. To get it back on the star charts, I need to see the situation there myself and assess the resources and infrastructure.”
“I’ll go with you,” Tinia was the first to volunteer, scooting closer to Jiang Lijin. “Guixu is a chaotic place—how can you go without me?”
Jiang Lijin reached out and pressed a hand on Tinia’s head, pushing him back.
“You stay,” she said, looking at him. “With the old nobles fallen, their assets and mining planets will be reshuffled, and control over the shipping routes will be up for grabs. The Yulan Group has to take over these plates as soon as possible. If you go to Guixu, who will hold down the rear and make money for me?”
Tinia’s shoulders slumped, but at the last sentence, he perked up again.
“Alright,” Tinia gritted his teeth. “Leave it to me. By the time you get back, I promise I’ll have half the empire’s economic veins in my grip. Then no one will dare boss you around.”
Jiang Lijin turned to look at Chiron, who was coming down the stairs.
Chiron walked over and sat down in a single sofa, adjusting his glasses.
“Rowan can’t do without me,” Chiron said proactively. “There’s still follow-up gene bank reorganization work at the academy, and I need to help oversee routine cabinet affairs. I can’t leave.”
Chiron was smart. Even if he had originally planned to go to Guixu to find his father, he knew where the bigger picture lay and would stay where he was needed. Jiang Lijin nodded at him.
Finally, she looked at Baal.
Baal unbuttoned the top two buttons of his collar, revealing his solid chest.
“Don’t look at me,” Baal said sharply. “Things on the front lines are stirring up lately. The Zerg are getting restless—Garry’s called me three times. I have to head back to base tomorrow morning.”
He had been away from the front for too long. As the Federation’s supreme commander, sparing so much time to stay with her on the capital planet was no small feat.
“Then it’s decided,” Jiang Lijin concluded. “I’ll depart in a week. Tianyan and Tianque will guide the way, and I’ll take Xiao Yi.”
“Boss, rest assured,” Tianyan smiled. “Once we reach Guixu, it’s our turf. Not a hair on your head will be harmed.”
Tianque said nothing, just silently nodded.
…
Late at night.
Jiang Lijin pushed open her bedroom door. No sooner had she taken half a step in than a hand grabbed her wrist.
The door slammed shut with a bang, and the lock clicked.
In the next second, Baal pressed her hard against the solid door panel, his tall frame bearing down with overwhelming intensity, and bent to kiss her fiercely.
As a serpent beastman, Baal’s body temperature was naturally low. The chill of his cold-blooded nature seeped through the thin fabric of their clothes, sending a fine layer of goosebumps racing down Jiang Lijin’s spine.
She didn’t push him away. Instead, she obediently tilted her head back, her hands climbing up his shoulders and wrapping around his neck.
That response seemed to flip some kind of switch. Baal’s breathing instantly grew heavier. He scooped Jiang Lijin up in his arms, carried her to the bed in a few long strides, and dropped her onto the soft bedding with a thud.
“I really want to just put you in my pocket and take you to the front lines,” Baal said, bracing himself on his arms beside her ears, his golden, vertical pupils locked tightly onto her in the dim light.
Jiang Lijin let out a soft laugh. She reached up, the pad of her finger tracing the corner of his eye.
“Take me to the front lines to eat sand? And stare at insectoid body parts all day? Dream on.”
Baal’s eyes darkened. He lowered his head and bit down on her lower lip.
One by one, their clothes fell to the carpet.
A serpent beastman’s body was naturally different from a human’s. Jiang Lijin had experienced it once before and knew what it entailed, so her body instinctively flinched now.
On top of that, Baal’s need for control in this area was terrifying. Knowing he had to leave tomorrow, the restless fury churning inside him had nowhere to go, and his movements grew rough and careless.
“Hiss—” Jiang Lijin sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. But she wasn’t about to let him get away with this mad bout of recklessness. She jerked her head up, opened her mouth, and bit down hard on Baal’s shoulder.
She held nothing back, even tasting a faint hint of blood.
Baal grunted at the sting, and his movements halted instantly. He lowered his head to look at the woman still clamped onto his shoulder, refusing to let go, and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Biting again? You really are like a dog,” Baal sighed. He reached out and soothingly squeezed the nape of her neck.
Only then did Jiang Lijin release her bite, panting as she shot him a glare. “Who do you think you are, that brute Zhuang Muji? Take it easy!”
Baal leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead, then her nose, then the corner of her mouth, softening his movements.
“Such a delicate little thing,” he muttered, his voice laced with a feigned disdain, but his tone had softened.
Outside the window, artificial moonlight streamed in through the sheer curtains. The bedroom was left with nothing but the sound of their breathing.
Jiang Lijin let him have his way. She knew Baal was leaving tomorrow, that he was restless, worried about her safety heading to the Abyss, and furious that he couldn’t be by her side.
She understood his turmoil, and so she was willing to try to endure his recklessness.
All the worries and love he couldn’t bring himself to say aloud were poured into this struggle between them.
By the early hours, everything had settled. Jiang Lijin was too exhausted to lift a single finger, her body gone limp as she sank into the pillow, her eyelids heavy.
Baal pulled her into his arms, drawing the blanket tightly over them both. His usually cool body temperature had been warmed by hers.
“At the Abyss… be careful,” Baal said, his voice hoarse, his chin brushing against the top of her head. “Don’t try to face everything alone. If you ever need me—no matter how many galaxies away, even if it’s through fire and brimstone—I’ll come to you.”
Jiang Lijin kept her eyes closed, nuzzling into a comfortable spot in his arms, and gave a quiet “Mm.”
“Go to sleep.”
In the darkness, Baal kept his golden, vertical pupils open, listening to the sound of the person in his arms breathe.
The restlessness and anxiety inside him finally settled, calmed, in that moment.
