LABMY CH80.2

Lu Qianyun said, “Then I’ll go bathe. You want to…”

“I’ll stand guard here,” Jian Yuanbai quickly interrupted, “Don’t worry, I won’t look. I’ll face the other way.”

Lu Qianyun nodded. After the big snake turned around, he took off his clothes.

The river here was flowing and clear, within an acceptable temperature range. He stepped in barefoot, letting the cool water spread from his ankles to his lower abdomen.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the big snake who was honestly not turning around, then lowered his head to inspect his own body and let out a soft hum.

It wasn’t that bad, right?

When his wounds healed, did Jian Yuanbai not sneak a glance even once? His ears turned red from his own thoughts, and he hurriedly splashed some water over himself to hide his embarrassment.

Standing guard by the riverbank, Jian Yuanbai inexplicably felt nervous, and his heart rate quickened slightly.

What was Jian Yuanbai?

He was an alpha with a physique that surpassed SSS-level, the only top-tier alpha capable of merging with his spiritual body, standing at the pinnacle of all alphas.

Even if he didn’t intentionally perceive it, he could still hear the sound of water being stirred by hands and splashing onto the body.

He really wanted to take a peek.

But he had already promised not to look. Going back on his word would be bad.

However, Lu Longlong himself said that they were both alphas, and there was nothing to hide.

The tip of his tail, reflecting its master’s emotions, had already reached out and pulled up a clump of grass, roots and all, without Jian Yuanbai even realizing it.

Just one glance. No, he couldn’t. Just one peek. Not even one.

What’s there to see about an alpha? If it wasn’t worth seeing, why did he still want to look?

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

The voice from behind startled Jian Yuanbai. Seeing the wet and dripping Lu Qianyun, he hurriedly pushed the pile of uprooted grass back into the bushes with the tip of his tail.

For some reason, he felt guilty, even though he had kept his promise not to look.

But he still felt guilty.

Lu Qianyun naturally didn’t miss the obviously guilty behavior of the snake’s tail. In fact, he only said that to make Jian Yuanbai wait because he saw the pile of grass roots.

Although he felt he had moved quickly, waiting in silence must have been quite boring.

Seeing the tail flick the dirt off the grass roots after pushing them back, Lu Qianyun couldn’t help but find it cute. The overly expressive tail honestly reflected its master’s emotions.

Even after pushing the grass back, Jian Yuanbai wasn’t reassured. He quietly moved forward to block the grass pile with his body, “It wasn’t long.”

He added, “You don’t need to keep apologizing to me. Our relationship doesn’t require constant apologies.”

Lu Qianyun’s eyes flickered, and he softened his tone with a smile, “What exactly is our relationship?”

Without hesitation, the reply came, loud and clear:

“A life-and-death uncle-nephew bond!”

Lu Qianyun’s smile froze on his face. With a forced smile, he walked around the black snake, “You’re right.”

“Then I’ll trouble Uncle to crawl back by himself.”

If Jian Yuanbai had hesitated for even a second, even if he hadn’t fully realized it, at least he’d have shown some doubt, right?

What kind of decent uncle and nephew would kiss?

How could he blurt that out without the slightest pause?

Lu Qianyun was truly baffled. What exactly went on in Jian Yuanbai’s head?

Left behind, Jian Yuanbai wanted to catch up but hesitated. He rolled up the beast’s corpse with his tail before following and said considerately, “I’m so big, you couldn’t carry me back anyway. It’s fine.”

Jian Yuanbai’s cluelessness in romance, coupled with his occasional excessive consideration, often left Lu Qianyun speechless.

Walking ahead, Lu Qianyun sighed helplessly and smiled faintly.

Even so, he still liked him.

Liked him so much that even after regaining his memories, he couldn’t bear to stay away.

Jian Yuanbai was like a burning flame, warm and pure, irresistibly drawing Lu Qianyun in.

When they returned to the cave, Jian Yuanbai asked, “Are you hungry? I can’t seem to process this purple tiger in my current form.”

Lu Qianyun shook his head, “No appetite for now.”

He didn’t explain the reason, and Jian Yuanbai didn’t ask. Both of them coincidentally thought of that bowl of fish soup and showed a look of disgust.

With nothing else to do, they finally began discussing their current situation.

They were now on a planet undiscovered by the Empire, with no traces of human activity. Even though their optical brain wasn’t broken, it was useless due to the lack of signal.

In the storyline Lu Qianyun remembered, they had stayed here for five years before being discovered.

He said, “This place is rich in resources, so survival isn’t an issue. But the space is too small. We should find another place to live.”

Jian Yuanbai let out a confused sound, “But we’ll be leaving soon, right?”

“Wouldn’t it be a bit troublesome to go through the effort of setting up another place?”

The one who was confused now was Lu Qianyun, “Your optical brain works?”

Jian Yuanbai shook his head, “But my optical brain has been modified. Every once in a while, it sends my location to a friend of mine. I spent a lot of money on it, so even without a signal, it can transmit through a special frequency.”

“Based on the timing, he should have received it three days ago.”

A friend?

What kind of friend needs to know Jian Yuanbai’s location regularly?

Lu Qianyun pursed his lips slightly, “Your girlfriend?”

Jian Yuanbai gave him a look as if saying, “Are you kidding me?” and replied, “He’s an alpha, my childhood friend.”

“Because for a whole year, I was wandering around different space pirate dens. The places those space pirates stay at have very unstable connections.”

“He was afraid that one day I’d accidentally die and no one would collect my corpse.”

Lu Qianyun let out an “Oh,” but his interest wasn’t high.

Jian Yuanbai suddenly asked, “Why did you think it was a girlfriend and not a boyfriend?”

Lu Qianyun: “Do you like men?”

Jian Yuanbai was about to say no, but when he saw Lu Qianyun’s face, he somehow hesitated and said uncertainly, “Probably not… depends on the situation.”

If there was a male Omega like Lu Qianyun, he thought he might actually like that too.

“Have you ever thought about what kind of person you’d want to be with in the future?” Jian Yuanbai suddenly thought of Lu Longlong’s four future wives and felt sour, “They must be very beautiful, right? Good figure, maybe not even human.”

Lu Qianyun replied impatiently, “Never thought about it, nor do I care.”

Jian Yuanbai had a close friend who could track his location in real-time.

Even the most intimate partners rarely install a tracker on themselves to send regular updates to another person.

But this so-called “childhood friend” could monitor Jian Yuanbai’s movements at all times.

Even if there was a reason, Lu Qianyun couldn’t convince himself not to care.

On the battleship, Lu Qianyun had heard Jian Yuanbai tell that lieutenant that he’d been infiltrating the space pirates for a year already.

Yet, even after a year, Jian Yuanbai hadn’t disabled the regular location transmission.

This fact made Lu Qianyun extremely bothered, unable to stop himself from overthinking.

Jian Yuanbai was supposed to enter the small world when the “Long AoTian” plot began. However, he infiltrated the space pirates a year earlier, something the original Jian Yuanbai in the plot would never have done.

This could only mean that Jian Yuanbai didn’t enter the small world after his gland was removed.

What exactly happened that caused this shift?

Lu Qianyun knew he shouldn’t care, but he couldn’t stop himself from wondering how long Jian Yuanbai had been spending time with that childhood friend.

The more he cared, the more irritated he felt, and his tone unconsciously became sharp.

It wasn’t until Jian Yuanbai asked, “What’s wrong? Are you upset about returning to the Empire Star?” that Lu Qianyun realized his poor attitude.

He shook his head and casually found an excuse, “I’m just worried about my secondary differentiation.”

“Even though secondary differentiation is rare, there are cases of alphas turning into Omegas.”

“I’m wondering what I’d do if I differentiated into an Omega.”

That would be great.

A strange and excited thought popped into Jian Yuanbai’s mind. He was startled and smacked his head with his snake tail. What the hell am I thinking?

Feeling ashamed, he avoided looking at Lu Qianyun. His snake tail unconsciously twisted into a knot behind him, “Don’t worry, you’ll definitely become an alpha.”

Lu Qianyun simply replied, “Hmm.”

The conversation cooled down, and since it was already late, they naturally went to sleep. Jian Yuanbai turned into his spiritual body, avoiding any discussion on sleeping arrangements.

Lu Qianyun split the large animal fur into two, placing one on the table for Jian Yuanbai and sleeping on the stone bed himself.

On the stone table, the beautiful giant snake struggled to bite the knot in its tail, trying to untie it. He could tell that Lu Qianyun was in a bad mood and didn’t want to disturb him.

Plus, he felt a bit embarrassed for tying himself into a knot twice in one day.

So, he didn’t ask Lu Qianyun for help and silently worked on it himself.

Jian Yuanbai always had a strange feeling, as if this spiritual body was unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time.

It felt like… he had more than one spiritual body.

Finally, he managed to untie the knot and happily wagged his tail. But when he glanced at Lu Qianyun, who was lying on the stone bed, the joy faded and was replaced with worry.

He wanted to leave this unfamiliar, primitive planet as soon as possible.

Ever since Lu Longlong woke up here, he had been unhappy. Probably because he thought he successfully underwent secondary differentiation before passing out, only to wake up and realize he was still the same.

That sense of disappointment was understandable.

Only by leaving this backward planet could Jian Yuanbai find someone who might know how to force a secondary differentiation into an alpha.

He just wanted to make Lu Longlong happy.

…

The next morning, Jian Yuanbai woke up feeling chilly.

He had reverted to his human form, completely naked, lying on the stone table with his long legs dangling off the edge.

He quickly wrapped the animal fur around his lower body. Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the ground.

The meteor fragments blocking the door were shattered by something, making a loud rumble that woke Lu Qianyun from his sleep.

Amidst the dust and debris, a casual and cocky voice echoed, “Yo, haven’t seen you in a few days. Young Master Jian is living like a wild man now?”

Jian Yuanbai’s childhood friend, Fan Youjin, appeared in front of them, fanning the dust away with one hand while holding a makeshift explosive in the other.

Seeing him, Jian Yuanbai retaliated without hesitation, “You’re such a show-off. What season is it that you’re still carrying a fan?”

“A feather fan, no less.”

Fan Youjin jumped in anger, “Show-off? Do you even understand fashion? This is what’s trending in the Empire’s upper class right now!”

He sneered, “What’s the point of explaining to a wild man like you? You wouldn’t get it.”

“Yeah, yeah, you know best,” Jian Yuanbai replied lazily. “You’re the expert in fashion. The guy who dressed like a red-light district gigolo on his blind date with an Omega.”

“F*ck you!”

Fan Youjin turned around and left, “You can stay here and be a wild man for the rest of your life. I really shouldn’t have come.”

Lu Qianyun couldn’t get a word in during their conversation, and the frustration in his heart seemed to grow stronger. At this moment, Jian Yuanbai grabbed his hand, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered:

“Don’t tell him about my ability to fuse with a spiritual body.”

“And don’t tell anyone else.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Fan Youjin, but the family behind him forced Jian Yuanbai to keep it a secret.

The only people who had seen him fuse with a spiritual body were Lu Qianyun and… the dead.

Lu Qianyun nodded without saying a word, feeling a little better.

In the end, the two of them boarded Fan Youjin’s private starship. Jian Yuanbai introduced, “This is Lu Qianyun. This is my childhood friend, Fan Youjin.”

Fan Youjin smiled and greeted him, then turned to Jian Yuanbai and said, “Come here, I have something to tell you.”

Before leaving, Jian Yuanbai said to Lu Qianyun, “Go back to your room and get some rest. If you want to eat something, ask his chef to make it for you.”

Fan Youjin silently rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

Once inside Fan Youjin’s study, he finally spoke, “If I remember correctly, you went missing while carrying out a military mission, right?”

“Why is that little burden here too?”

“Bringing an outsider on a military mission, are you out of your mind?”

“Plus, you changed your flight path without permission, causing a lieutenant to go missing or even die. Do you know you could end up in a military court for this?”

Jian Yuanbai waved his hand carelessly, “No, I won’t. I paid my way into the military and made a deal with the higher-ups.”

“I told them I needed to inspect my mining planet, and they were supposed to provide protection. Otherwise, how do you think I got so many patrol missions?”

Fan Youjin sighed in relief but still said, “I worried about you the whole way. Mental distress compensation, one million. Fuel cost for the starship, five hundred thousand. A total of one and a half million. Pay up.”

Jian Yuanbai directly transferred two star coins to him through his light brain, “I even gave you an extra 0.5 star coin. Let me ask you something.”

“How can someone undergoing secondary differentiation have a higher chance of becoming an alpha?”

Fan Youjin clicked his tongue, “Don’t tell me that little burden is about to undergo secondary differentiation? What kind of luck is that?”

“I’m not sure of any specific methods,” Fan Youjin said while tapping his fan on his palm. “But I’ve been studying ancient Blue Star civilization recently.”

“Back then, if people wanted a good-looking baby, they would show the pregnant woman pictures of beautiful children. There was a saying, ‘You become what you see.'”

“Why don’t you let him look at more high-quality alphas?”

Jian Yuanbai frowned, “What kind of nonsense is that? Transfer me four million to compensate for the nonsense I just heard.”

“And stop calling him a little burden.” He didn’t like hearing that kind of disdainful term used on Lu Qianyun.

Back in his room, Jian Yuanbai ignored the four star coins that had been transferred to his account and instead searched for photos of alphas on the star network.

There were plenty of alpha celebrities, all with great looks and impressive physiques. However, the more Jian Yuanbai looked, the more dissatisfied he became.

…

Since boarding the starship, Lu Qianyun hadn’t seen Jian Yuanbai for two full days. He had no idea what he was doing in his room and hadn’t come out to see anyone.

Fan Youjin’s starship was private and not as fast as a military ship. Plus, due to Fan Youjin’s aristocratic lifestyle, they couldn’t rush and had to take their time, making the journey slow and boring.

After running into Fan Youjin for the third time at Jian Yuanbai’s door, Lu Qianyun gave up on finding him.

Unexpectedly, that night, someone knocked on his door.

Jian Yuanbai awkwardly handed him a gift box, “Here. To celebrate our successful escape from the deserted planet, this is a gift for you.”

He was afraid that mentioning the differentiation would make Lu Qianyun more anxious, so he used the gift as an excuse.

Then he emphasized, “You have to look at it often. Every day, if possible.”

After Jian Yuanbai left, Lu Qianyun opened the gift box.

What greeted him was a photo of Jian Yuanbai’s well-defined abs.

He pulled out another photo — a half-naked shot of Jian Yuanbai showing off his muscles.

Lu Qianyun: ……

He turned the gift box upside down, dumping out all the contents.

The table was filled with countless photos of Jian Yuanbai, most of them shirtless, showing off every angle of his muscles — abs, back muscles, arm muscles…

There were a few photos where he was fully dressed, but even those were in military uniforms.

Lu Qianyun could even tell the order in which the photos were taken by Jian Yuanbai’s expression.

The ones where he looked shy and awkward were taken first, while the ones that gradually became more natural were taken later.

The expressions varied, but the background was the same — the room inside this starship.

So… he locked himself in his room for two days… just to take these photos?

Lu Qianyun picked up a photo of Jian Yuanbai wearing a black uniform, with broad shoulders, long legs, and a cold and intense gaze staring directly at the camera.

Handsome? Very.

But…

Thinking about how Jian Yuanbai told him to “look often, look every day,” Lu Qianyun’s expression became extremely complicated.

What kind of weird behavior is this?