CH 21

Fortunately, Lin Han was wearing gloves and didn’t know what He YunTing was thinking at this moment. He YunTing finished that sentence and then looked away again, leaving Lin Han alone to look at him in confusion.

“This… Is there any problem?”

“No.” He YunTing put his gun away and stood with his back to Lin Han, “Just no need to be so polite.”

“General…” Lin Han wanted to say something, but He YunTing had already walked to the door with big steps and left without looking back.

So he couldn’t finish the rest of his words.

No need to be so polite… But they didn’t know each other very well, right? He looked at He YunTing’s back and then at the gun in his hand, pondering. He actually wanted to ask more than just this question of address, he also wanted to ask if the other party’s wound had healed a bit.

Since he was cautious enough to prepare a gun for him, or in the base, was the real culprit from last time still not found? Lin Han even wanted to tell He YunTing his own ability, and then ask him if he needed his help. After all, separated by a layer of flesh and blood and skin, it wasn’t easy to know the other party’s true thoughts.

But if Lin Han had told He YunTing about it, he might have been the first to be embarrassed.

Lin Han put his thoughts away along with the gun He YunTing gave him and left the shooting training room.

—

The time was late, He YunTing confirmed the progress of the selection with Lu AnHe after leaving Lin Han, still uneasy to return to the first base.

When he pushed open the door, Lu AnHe was watching the monitor for him, and when he saw He YunTing coming, he saluted, “Everything’s normal so far. But the elimination ratio is higher than last year, there are still two days left in the first stage, yesterday there were still half left, today not even half passed.”

Lu AnHe flipped through the data and reported, “This time a total of 40,000 people, Alphas 12,000, Betas 28,000, the result, according to the elimination rules, in addition to the first round of training, the number of people who voluntarily withdrew from the game, there are actually more Betas than Alphas.”

“The key is that many Alphas quit for the reason that they don’t want to suffer… they are really spoiled,” Lu AnHe tsked, having a rare frown with a bit of anger, “They said that they think they can do something else with such mental strength and physical strength. Oh, there are people who say this competition isn’t compliant, and intend to write a letter to the council to report you.”

He YunTing took off his hat, although he still didn’t speak, his eyes had more than a hint of contempt. The mechanic selection occurred every year, and this kind of situation was naturally commonplace.

He YunTing didn’t reply, only his face sank as he took the list of eliminated handed over by Lu AnHe.

As the Empire had become more and more prosperous in recent years, young people were used to being pampered, so many people had become lazy and arrogant in nature. They see it on paper and think there was nothing to a mecha and could drive it. They were confident that they were the next He YunTing. The results of the harsh training made their legs weak, and they immediately wanted to quit.

If one wasn’t in the middle of it, no one would see the darkness under the peace.

Even the attempted assassination of He YunTing was on the news, they would only mock the perpetrator’s lack of self-esteem, and incidentally sing the praises of He YunTing, saying that such a small trick, how could it hurt him?

The first round of selection was purely a physical test, high-intensity training that could quickly see the test subject’s physical ability to withstand certain conditions. If not for Lu AnHe, He YunTing would have made it more severe.

The soldiers who signed up weren’t in their own rooms until they entered the third round, and needed to share a room with their teammates. Except for the bathroom, everywhere else was monitored to observe every move of the recruits in all directions.

In addition, the instructors would be directly in front of these soldiers, each link was supervised by a person, every detail would count as points, one hundred points per person, and once deducted, they would be eliminated.

What He YunTing had in his hand was a list of points that had been compiled, and in addition to those eliminated, there was no shortage of a few bright lights.

The first one was an Alpha named Qi Jiamu, who only had one point deducted because he didn’t understand the rules the first time, but the rest of his performance was perfect.

There were several Betas behind him. They may not have the same physical and mental strength as the Alphas by nature, but their acquired efforts could eventually put them in the forefront.

With the sky low, the soldiers’ training came to an end for the time being as they began to disperse to the canteens of each base for meals.

He YunTing eyes then moved away from the screen, rubbing his brow.

Lu AnHe could do anything, eating was also the first, immediately after work to the canteen — although the content of the meals were the same, if they arrived early at least they could eat a different after-dinner snack.

Lu AnHe was just about to go out when he wrinkled his nose a little strangely.

“Boss,” he asked suspiciously, “what did you do with Mr. Lin just now?”

He YunTing didn’t understand why Lu AnHe asked that, “Teaching him to use a gun.”

“Nothing else?” Lu AnHe still didn’t seem to believe it.

He YunTing swept over with dissatisfaction, “Nothing else.”

“…Oh.” Lieutenant Colonel Lu replied, “I thought you two…”

“?”

“Ahem, your pheromones mingled.” The witty little Lu picked a description that he thought would not be taken the wrong way.

“Because I… I smelled a little bit of your pheromone,” Lu AnHe finished his sentence.

Lu AnHe was an Alpha, and out of the natural repulsion of his kind, he could smell the pheromone of his kind more acutely.

However, if he really didn’t do anything with Lin Han — not only was there nothing to do, on the contrary, He YunTing’s expression changed, “No. Go eat your meal.”

Lu AnHe said “Ha” and went away.

He YunTing called someone to send over dinner, he continued to stay alone in the command room. Only after Lu AnHe left did he have time to think back on what had just happened.

He really wanted to give Lin Han his gun and teach him some basics simply for the sake of his personal safety.

Even if he didn’t acknowledge what Lu AnHe said about love at first sight, he wouldn’t deny that he did have a crush on Lin Han, otherwise he wouldn’t be curious about his pheromone, wouldn’t want to meet him, and wouldn’t want to invite him to the ball… 

He himself knew that this Omega was special.

He had entered the army really early, so early that for so long, he had taken the glory and mission of the Empire as his unshakable mission, ever so loyal, ever so determined. When one was watched for too long and stretched too tightly, one tended to forget how to be an ordinary person.

Not to mention all this, he couldn’t even express his emotions.

What kind of emotions would the average Alpha possess? Did they act differently towards the Omega they loved?

What kind of expression will they show their Omega? What kind of things would they do with each other? Would he… Like Lu AnHe said, bury his head in the other’s neck, piercing the other’s thin and fragile gland with sharp canine teeth and injecting his own pheromone?

But… 

He YunTing subconsciously used the tip of his tongue against his sharp Alpha canine teeth, thinking.

That Omega looked so clean and beautiful, if he bit him, the other would get hurt, right? Would he close his eyes in pain, or would his eyes mist up in pain and bring tears to his eyelashes?

He YunTing recalled Lin Han asking how he looked at him and why he didn’t even use honorifics. He couldn’t answer, so he had to run away.

He YunTing couldn’t help but think more about something that might hurt Omega when he heard the other person politely and gently say “you” and look into his eyes and smile at him. So he tried to take a step or two away from him, trying to suppress the unknown emotions in his mind, trying to just get along with each other normally.

But by doing so, he had been calm and self-possessed, almost leaking his pheromone.

The other side moved closer and he would step back.

He was afraid that his pheromone would scare the other, and he was afraid of a different reaction. It was almost unbearable. He YunTing found it hard to talk about it, and felt strange.

There was so much he was missing, except for the never-ending training. But at least in his perception, if he really liked someone, he wouldn’t make the other person feel pain.

How could one call it like if they would hurt their Omega?

—

Since it was the first day at the base, plus the selection was still in the first stage, Lin Han temporarily had nothing to do and went back to his room.

During the pilot selection period his communicator wasn’t able to contact the outside world, so Lu AnHe gave him the password for the base’s internal line, and also thoughtfully added some internal staff communication that Lin Han may need, so that Lin Han can quickly adapt. The head of the internal affairs team then heard Lu AnHe say that this was the mecha division that the General personally invited, nothing else was clear, only that he must be well entertained.

He politely knocked on Lin Han’s room door, and when Lin Han opened it, he first introduced himself, and understood that he was an Omega, and his physique wasn’t too good. He immediately said that he would bring Lin Han special nutrition supplements from the military later, and the effect should be better than the ones he bought on his own.

As for the personal stuff like inhibitors, Lin Han said he brought his own, no need to prepare another.

The head of the internal affairs team wrote this down, “By the way, should I bring you dinner? However, because of the training of the base pilots’ fitness, the meals here are uniform, if Mr. Lin really doesn’t like the taste, you can tell me, we can make something else for you.”

Lin Han didn’t like to bother others, and he wasn’t too particular about food, so he waved his hand, “No need. Just the same as everyone else.”

The ultimate supplement for a poorly constituted Omega was a nutritional supplement anyway.

He nodded and gave Lin Han a general description of the contents of the meal, “Basically, that’s it. But during this period the General has his own special addition, everything else is the same.”

Special addition?

Lin Han couldn’t help but ask, “Is it specially formulated for his physique? How is it different from others?”

Is it specially formulated for his physique?

Lin Han was a little curious, he remembered Lu AnHe said before that He YunTing was very boring. His meal hadn’t changed for several years, even back at his own manor he didn’t know how to enjoy meals. So how come there was now a special exclusive meal?

The head of internal affairs didn’t expect him to ask the question, the corners of his eyes also jumped. After all, even he himself didn’t know the meaning of this special item. He replied respectfully and honestly, “Actually… It’s not too different.”　

Lin Han nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.　

“By the way,” the head of the internal affairs suddenly thought of something, “although the General’s special meal isn’t very different from the normal one, Mr. Lin, do you want to try it?”

I heard that Omegas had a sweet tooth and liked all kinds of sweets, so Mr. Lin might like it too. The head of the internal affairs, who had decided to treat the General’s personal expert well for the sake of the base, thought this.

Since he had said so, and Lin Han really wanted to know, he nodded his head without much thought, “Okay, that’s what I’ll have then.”

The head of the internal affairs team agreed and asked Lin Han if he needed anything else for now before leaving the room to prepare for him.

Ten minutes later, Lin Han looked at the “General’s Special” meal in front of him in a daze. There was nothing special about the main dish or the meat and vegetables, and the cooking method was simple and healthy.

But… 

He picked up a small spoon and poked the small porcelain bowl that looked out of place with this meal with a complicated expression.

It was a piece of caramel that had been baked with a torch, and it looked crispy and attractive in color.

Lin Han would have had no problem if his pheromone wasn’t caramel.

But he didn’t know when He YunTing had added this. Even he didn’t dare to think about himself at first.

To prove that he really wasn’t thinking too much, Lin Han put down the small spoon and stood up, closed the door and windows, and then somewhat shamefully released a little bit of his own pheromone.

The sweet, burnt aroma quickly spread out.

Lin Han picked up his utensils again and tentatively tasted the caramel in the “General’s Special”.

Comparing the two, he pursed his lips and confirmed with an odd expression — it tasted exactly the same as his.

Lin Han, “…”

His mind recalled the first time they met, the other party’s voice was as cool as a river of ice that had just melted in late winter, flowing bitterly over his ears with the remnants of coldness… 

【It smells good.】

Lin Han pushed the caramel in front of him away.

Had he started a meal replacement then?