Chapter 13: The Admiral Coaxes People Online

Already lying on his bed, Luo Ran stared at the displayed time in a daze.

Lucas still hadn’t slept?

And was even thinking of having a duel?

Luo Ran was too shocked, so when he shifted to a more comfortable position, his fingers were a little uncoordinated and he accidentally… hung up Lucas’ call.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran waited a while but Lucas didn’t call back.

Okay… he’s probably really angry now.

After they fought in the afternoon, Luo Ran planned to let Lucas cool down a bit but he didn’t expect him to run over in the middle of the night looking for a fight, not to mention he refused to take his call.

He originally wanted to call back, but after thinking it over, Luo Ran decided not to jump the gun. He’d apologise after letting Lucas sleep it off for a night.

…Speaking of.

He shouldn’t have to apologise at all, right?

But after running around the whole day and looking over documents the entire evening, Luo Ran didn’t have the brainpower to think anymore. He slipped off to sleep with the terminal still in his hands.

* * *

On the other side, Lucas couldn’t sleep and was talking to Zhou Mingkai.

“He’s angry.” Lucas frowned. “Was I too much today?”

“…I don’t know if you were too much, but from my understanding, Secretary Luo wouldn’t get angry from such a thing. Maybe you’re misunderstanding something?” Zhou Mingkai felt that he was the empire’s best brother, he’d even given up his warm bed to chat with his bro about his love drama.

It had to be true love.

“He threw me into the hover car by myself, then hung up my call! Isn’t he angry?”

“…Then what do you want to do?”

Lucas coldly hmph’d and said, “What else? I, as the distinguished admiral, shouldn’t squabble with him. I’ll graciously forgive him and apologise tomorrow.”

“…” In other words, admitting defeat.

Why not do this earlier, instead of twisting around like a female lead in a romance drama? He was very decisive as a general.

“…Admiral, good luck.

“By the way Admiral, did you fight with Secretary Luo because of Miss Nina?”

Lucas furrowed his brows slightly. How does he know?

Zhou Mingkai explained, “It’s like this. The lady I’m with right now is the elder cousin of Miss Chen, who’s Miss Nina’s best friend. Through her, I know some things.”

“Hm?”

“So I don’t really understand why the admiral is angry. As I heard it, Miss Nina posted on the starnet saying you were cruel or something, and then Secretary Luo visited her to explain you weren’t that kind of person. En… doesn’t the Empire have this sort of thing happen every day?”

Lucas paused.

“Admiral, if someone insulted Secretary Luo, what would you do?”

Lucas snorted coldly. “Whoever dares, I’ll beat them to death.”

“Yeah… You see, Secretary Luo thinks the same way. Hasn’t he protected you too?”

Lucas leaned back on the chair, frowning slightly. He gave a vague hum and hung up the call.

Then Lucas investigated the Starnet Administration Bureau and smoothly accessed the deleted post.

Lucas’ frown deepened.

This…

Tsk, silly Luo Ran.

He really was a bit much today. 

Luo Ran tried so hard to explain, yet he didn’t think about his words clearly enough.

Lucas touched his nose.

Forget it, he’ll talk with Luo Ran tomorrow.　　

* * *

As a result, Luo Ran didn’t go to the company the next day.

After getting out of bed, Luo Ran grabbed the samples and went to find Xia Zhi.

When Luo Ran picked up the samples from the research institute last night, the director told him that they hoped to have information on both the baseline and variations in the health and mental state of the omega who would be refining the UNK for better data and later tests.

The director’s intention was to send an eminent doctor of the Empire to record the whole process, but Luo Ran of course refused.

Luo Ran said the omega was afraid of outsiders, but he had a friend – the former battlefield medic Xia Zhi – who could accurately record every step. 

As soon as this name came out, the director had no comments.

Until a few years ago, Xia Zhi was the trump card of the medical department, one of the best combat medics, and was engaged to the leader of the combat medics, Shen Xiluo.

But when he later left the team, he also broke the engagement with Shen Xiluo.

Luo Ran once again came to the wood cabin, this time with a basket full of seeds. “Good morning.”

“Good morning!” Xia Zhi was watering plants in the garden. Hearing Luo Ran’s arrival, he lifted his head with a smile. “Ranran’s here? The email explained everything.”

“Sorry for the short notice… I’ll be troubling you.” Luo Ran lifted the basket in his hands. “Compensation.”

“It’s okay, I already said to find me if you have any problems. As long as it’s you, helping out with this isn’t hard. It’s just… if it’s a request from Shen Xiluo or the medical department, then I’d rather refuse.” Blinking, Xia Zhi took off his gloves and went inside to clean up.

“No, I was the one to bring you up, and the one the medical department sent wasn’t him either.”

“Then that’s fine.”

The two headed inside and down into the basement. Luo Ran placed the box he brought with him on the table and gingerly opened it up. 

A large ice-like silver stone sat within the strongbox.

Xia Zhi paused a moment, then reached out to stroke the blood-red patterns on the stone.

“It’s beautiful.”

Xia Zhi sat Luo Ran down and gave him an electrode head cap*. “We can start. Have you asked for leave from the company?”

Luo Ran gently nodded.

“Good.”　　

* * *

“He’s not coming to the company!” Lucas sat in his big leather office chair and even spun in a circle as he spoke. “He’s angry, he’s really truly angry.”

How absurd!

“…?” On the other end of the line, Zhou Mingkai was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to listen to Lucas’ troubles, now he even had to be tossed around at such an early hour. He deserved to receive a gold medal. “That… did Secretary Luo ask for leave?”

“He did, saying that there’s an omega and a something something former combat medic willing to try refining a UNK sample, so today he’s going on a business trip.”

“…” Yawning, Zhou Mingkai replied in a puzzled tone, “This, isn’t this very normal?”

Speaking logically, Zhou Mingkai originally believed Luo Ran wasn’t angry, but Lucas made him confused.

“Do you think he’s tired of me?” Lucas gritted his teeth.

“…” Zhou Mingkai wanted to cry but had no tears*. “Just ask him directly!”

“I was going to!” Lucas sneered. Still hiding! Wait until he finished his duties at the military department, after he found Luo Ran, he’d accept his apology even if he had to force him.

“…”

Zhou Mingkai said in his heart, you fucking idiot.

　　—— XXXXX ——

The basement was well lit. Luo Ran gently folded his palms over the ore, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He used his spiritual power to explore the tiny paths inside the ore, trying to push out the minerals hidden inside.

Anyone, whether alpha or omega, hated interruptions during precision work like this the most, so Xia Zhi never spoke, only silently noting every fluctuation in Luo Ran’s spiritual power.

This UNK was too strange. The paths within were unprecedentedly complicated.

Not only this, but the closer Luo Ran approached the inner core, the more energetic he felt.

After interacting with it for a day, Luo Ran only felt his spiritual power becoming more excited, to the point that even Xia Zhi was speechless when he saw the report.

The two stayed until the evening, when Xia Zhi lightly patted Luo Ran’s shoulder to indicate he should pull away.

“It’s already late, take a break first. Don’t exhaust your spiritual energy.”

Luo Ran sat blankly and only lifted his head after a long while. “What time is it?”

“It’s twilight, the sun is about to set.”

Luo Ran was taken aback.

He’d mobilized his spirit for the whole day, focusing on those complicated lines, with no sense of time at all. Only then did he wake up.

Normally alpha and omega would become tired after using spiritual power for a long time, but Luo Ran instead felt more spirited.

“This stone is really magical.” Xia Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “The energy and radiation it gives off are incredible, no wonder Luobing’s research institute is so determined.”

Although Luo Ran wasn’t tired, he was very hungry. Getting up, he said, “I’ll get the nutrient solution…”

His body wobbled a bit.

“Hey, be careful…!” Xia Zhi quickly grabbed Luo Ran and said helplessly, “We can’t do it like this tomorrow, we’ll set a time for you to rest and take a bite to eat. Even if your spiritual power is fine, your body isn’t.”

“Okay.” Luo Ran stabilized himself and left the basement with Xia Zhi.

While Xia Zhi went to cook dinner, Luo Ran sat on the couch, drinking a nutrient solution with one hand and swiping at his terminal with the other.

As soon as he opened his terminal, it gave him a scare.

He’d already arranged everything before setting off, so the company had no issues.

It was Lucas.

[13:01] Lucas: Where.

[16:30] Lucas: Where.

[17:15] Lucas: Luo Ran.

[17:35] Lucas: Where are you?!

Luo Ran: …

No, Lucas couldn’t have suffered.

Didn’t he send in a request for leave?

Staring at the long series of messages, Luo Ran could easily imagine Lucas’ ferocious expression even through the screen. 

Luo Ran shuddered and hurriedly sent Lucas his real-time location.

Luo Ran: I’m not angry, why would I be angry?

Luo Ran: Admiral, you misunderstood, I was busy the whole day and couldn’t check my terminal

Luo Ran: My apologies

But there was no reply.

“Xiaxia, I can’t eat dinner with you today.” Luo Ran stood up. “The admiral will probably come over…”

“Ah…?” Xia Zhi looked at Luo Ran with a dazed expression. “O-Okay?” He went into the kitchen and brought out some biscuits and snacks. “Take some things to eat in the hover car, isn’t the admiral too much? He even exploits his employees to this extent!”

Luo Ran replied quietly, “It shouldn’t be for official business.”

A loud engine’s roar was heard not long after. Luo Ran pushed the door open to see a flying vehicle lower itself through the sunset’s crimson clouds and orange glow and form ripples on the grass as it landed.

A tall man in military uniform exited and, looking at Luo Ran, his voice was remarkably gentle.

“Luo Ran, I’ve come to pick you up.”