CH 48

Lin Han was a little surprised. He had heard of the name Xu Zhiheng, an older scholar, kind-eyed, amiable, with an aura of calmness and high academic attainment. When he came to the Imperial Military University as a visiting professor to give several lectures, although they worked in different fields, Lin Han liked his professionalism, and went to every lecture to listen.

He YunTing continued, “He found that this type of Omega sometimes looks no different from the rest, maybe a little thinner than normal, but often has extremely high mental power.”

Lin Han listened very carefully, and gradually understood the origin of the so-called ‘Burning Blood.’

After Xu Zhiheng discovered this kind of Omega was a good thing.

But after all, Omegas were subject to many restrictions, but in one of Professor Xu’s research, he found that such Omegas after their gland damage would become different from ordinary people.

Both men and women, even if their bodies were still very thin, but as if injected with a hundred stimulants, they wouldn’t feel tired, and could even withstand a higher degree of rigorous training than some Alphas.

“With the glands out, they’re like… a natural born weapon.” He YunTing said.

Just forget their gender and put aside their conscience, destroy their glands, and you could have a fighting machine that was a hundred times stronger than ordinary people. Even train them to become the best pilots.

“But then Professor Xu urgently called a halt to this matter.”

Xu Zhiheng had always been more moderate in nature, moreover, he didn’t want to cause a war. This was against human rights, furthermore the discovery was also purely accidental, already considered a travesty, and he couldn’t continue to create artificial tragedy — even if the tragedy is framed with a grand reason, this fact cannot be concealed.

But some extreme radicals thought this was an excellent shortcut to train the Empire’s blades, and even though Xu Zhiheng had done his best to stop it, some Omegas had their glands destroyed and became what they called ‘weapons.’

Burning Blood Omegas were indeed very strong, some of them could almost break through the limits of human beings themselves to complete some impossible tasks.

Xu Zhiheng himself couldn’t stand it and contacted many people, including his good friend Jiang Lian, and finally vetoed the research in the council, so no one was allowed to destroy an innocent Omega’s gland in this way.

The research was, after all, a scandal, so neither side wanted more people to know about it, and finally under the intervention of the military, the matter eventually became a so-called ‘military secret.’

Although not involved, He YunTing himself was naturally aware of this matter.

After the intervention of many parties, the matter was completely concealed, and the people involved were as secretive as if it had never existed.

But all of this happened years ago.

“It did die down for a long time, and the news was so deadly that not many people knew about it, even at the top. It got to the point where people really seemed to forget about it.” He YunTing said, “I didn’t expect it to reappear, it must have been researched privately by people who knew the truth back then against the ban. Because I had a feeling that this matter would probably not be able to be suppressed, I told Mr. Lin about it.” He YunTing coldly said.

Lin Han had too much information to digest for a while before he replied, “I know.”

Although it wasn’t known yet who restarted the research and how long it started, but no matter how it was started, it was a creepy thing. How many Omegas would be injured and controlled this time?

Not to mention… 

He YunTing only continued after a long time, his voice was cold with a hint of imperceptible dryness, “I’m thinking of Mr. Lin.”

Lin Han’s conditions almost coincided with the above, and with a little damage, he would become a ‘weapon’ to be slaughtered.

“Speaking of which,” Lin Han remembered Qi JiaZe, “he should also be the kind of Omega you mentioned, but…”

He seemed a little more out of place.

And, if such an Omega was different in some way according to He YunTing, then the Omega that had tried to assassinate He YunTing twice had died too cleanly, except that Qi JiaZe seemed like a real trump card. And how exactly he got on the battleship, no one knows yet.

He YunTing pondered for a long time after listening to Lin Han’s words, “Maybe… Their research is much deeper than what I thought.”

After the two talked for a while, Lin Han finally felt sleepy and couldn’t help himself as he drifted off to sleep.

Grr remained too lazy to pay attention to He YunTing and made an effort to fluff his fur and slumped on Lin Han. He YunTing stared at him for a while and poked him in the stomach, “Tomorrow, remember to take Mr. Lin to the place where you came from, okay?”

Grr’s tail wagged a bit, but it didn’t make a sound.

He YunTing also didn’t force it, only added, “Mr. Lin will be very miserable if there’s no more food supply.”

Grr didn’t seem to fully listen, or he didn’t  understand what miserable meant.

“In other words, he won’t care about you, and will have no strength to pet your fur.” He YunTing added cruelly.

So he watched as Grr’s fur exploded.

He YunTing seemed satisfied that it went as he planned, before he went to the other cockpit to sleep.

No matter what else was ahead, tomorrow was still a new day.

The next day He YunTing finally found the snack he had slipped into Lu AnHe’s hand during one of his training sessions in a small storage compartment before Lin Han woke up.

He began to miss his private aircraft.

The two couldn’t delay too long, while the sun was not fully up, the temperature wasn’t too high and they could walk on the ground. If it was hotter, the strong, burning ultraviolet rays could tear them apart, and they wouldn’t even be able to stand.

Lin Han also woke up early, rubbed his eyes and saw the snacks on the side. He was hungry and his limbs were weak.

“The last packet.” He YunTing saw that he was awake and explained, “We have to let it take us on the road today.”

Lin Han nodded, saw the little thing scurrying into his arms, so he gently smoothed its fur, and asked in a consultative tone, “Will you take us there?”

The little one didn’t hesitate and began to circle around Lin Han.

Lin Han simply washed up with the stored water, stood up and said to He YunTing, “Let’s go.”

Because they had to save energy for the mecha, and because Grr only recognized Lin Han, not the mecha or He YunTing, the two of them chose to walk around the area first. As soon as Grr landed, he started rolling excitedly, stopping every now and then to look back at Lin Han to see if he had caught up.

The temperature wasn’t too high now, but Lin Han was still walking very slowly.

Even if he ate a little, without the supplement of nutrients, he still felt drained.

He couldn’t help but think of what He YunTing said last night about the ‘Burning Blood.’

If, let’s just say if, his physique really was like what those people unearthed, would he have turned into a walking corpse by now, or something else? And how exactly were those people looking for this type of Omega? Why did he escape disaster? Lin Han temporarily didn’t have a clue.

Many things had to wait until they returned to the Empire and then they could think about it, their immediate priority now was to find food.

Lin Han followed Grr for not more than ten minutes before his legs started to get weak, propping himself up on his knees and stopping to catch his breath.

Grr originally wanted to continue to rush forward, but when he turned around and saw that Lin Han wasn’t moving, he carefully shook off the sand on his body and ran over to rub Lin Han’s pant leg after confirming that it was clean.

Lin Han thought he would run out of energy, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon.

Just when he was gritting his teeth and lamenting his physique, He YunTing’s voice came to his ears, “I’ll carry you.”

“But…” Lin Han only had time to say that, and his body was so weak that he almost slid to the ground.

So He YunTing didn’t wait for his answer, and for the first time without Lin Han’s permission, he came over and carried him on his back with two hands holding his legs.

Grr watched, but couldn’t ‘save’ him, and finally could only give up, grumbling and continued to lead the way.

Lin Han thought since he didn’t have to walk anymore, he could last a little longer.

He YunTing was already talking little and walking steadily, so Lin Han put his hands around his neck and became drowsy in the very gentle bumps, and finally fell asleep on He YunTing’s back after only half an hour.

He YunTing noticed it almost immediately, and subconsciously paused when he heard the soft breathing coming from his back, and walked more slowly.

He YunTing was too tall, and Grr was only as big as Lin Han holding his hands together, it was still rolling on the ground, not knowing that the human he was thinking about had fallen asleep and was still running forward with his head in the sand.

He YunTing had guessed right, and after only an hour of walking, it took the two to a small cave where they could barely stand.

But according to the living habits of the creatures, there were no new creatures here now, and it was quiet. Grr tried to jump to see what Lin Han was doing, but was unsuccessful because He YunTing didn’t want to put him down.

Grr led He YunTing to a corner of the cave and started digging the sand on his hands and knees, eventually pulling out some food from a small hole. It eyed the stuff and pushed it in front of He YunTing, then collected its claws and shrunk back into a ball, its black bean eyes looking piercingly at him.

The meaning was obvious, in exchange for this food, you’d lend me the human on your back for rubbing.

In the border area that hadn’t reached the boundary of Oddbound, this tiny golden lingo was the only plant that could grow here. It had very low water content, but was naturally hardy, so it had a strong satiety and was a food for certain races, and humans could eat it too.

He YunTing obviously didn’t buy it, and naturally couldn’t put Lin Han down — he swept a glance at the little guy, coldly rolled away all the fruit, and stood up. The temperature was starting to rise, so if they delayed a little longer, they wouldn’t be able to leave. They had very little time to move around and had to get back to the mecha as soon as possible.

Grr, whose food was rolled away before it could be pet by Lin Han: ???

Its reflex arc was a bit long, and it took a full three minutes for it to realize what had happened. It squealed in anger and rushed up to fight with He YunTing, and even tried to use its sharp teeth to bite this human who hadn’t kept his word—

Then He YunTing squatted down.

Lin Han’s sleeping face appeared in front of it.

He YunTing’s voice wasn’t loud and his tone had the usual coldness, “You want to wake him up?”

“…” Zee. Of course not.

“We’re going back.” He YunTing was brief and concise.

Grr rolled around on the ground in a very tangled way, but finally shook his fur, jumped on Lin Han’s shoulder, and happily repositioned himself on it, turning from a ball into a fluffy, thick pancake.

The deal wasn’t a big loss.

After all, Grr was a very easy-going creature.

He YunTing went back in a hurry, afraid that the temperature would become too high and would cause harm to people. But even though he quickened his pace, Lin Han was still sleeping heavily, with no sign of being disturbed at all.

It wasn’t until the two men and the beast reentered the mecha and He YunTing closed the hatch that he breathed a sigh of relief. He put Lin Han carefully into the relatively spacious first cockpit, put the pilot seat down, and got his jacket to cover him.

While he was at it, he turned on his communicator, hoping to make contact with the battleship.

Sha, sha, sha— However, he waited for ten minutes and all he got in response was a busy signal.

It would take two days for the battleship to sail to the Empire again after a successful leap, so maybe something else was happening up there, but he didn’t receive a response.

Half an hour later, He YunTing closed the communication.

After all, he had to save some energy anyway, otherwise this iron shell wouldn’t hold up for long. He inclined his head to look at Lin Han, who was still sleeping.

The youth’s sleeping posture was good, just like when he first slept in the base. He subconsciously curled his legs and turned on his side, folding his hands together.

He YunTing looked at those hands. The youth’s hands were slim and white, the skin on the back of the hands was thin, with little blood.

Mr. Lin himself was the same.

Modest, gentle, yet tough.

He YunTing looked at him for a long time.

Since yesterday, he knew he felt lust. Unfortunately, he had never been confident to the point of conceit, but he was indecisive in this matter and didn’t even know where to start. He still felt remorseful for his behavior yesterday, yet he still didn’t want to leave behind those unpleasant thoughts he had generated.

But Mr. Lin was so sweet and nice.

Whether lust and admiration could be equated, He YunTing didn’t know.

But there was some force driving him, and he gradually approached the youth. Now that he was really asleep, maybe he could do something quietly.

He YunTing had never done this kind of thing, taking advantage of people, and his heart was rarely apprehensive, but he really couldn’t help it.

A little, just a little.

He said to himself.

Won’t do anything else.

He YunTing slowly approached him and squatted down.

His legs were bent, while his right leg was resting on the driver’s seat, his posture looked respectful and reverent, as if he was guarding the other’s sleeping face.

But he knew he didn’t just want to look.

He YunTing, as if he couldn’t hold back any longer, leaned down close to the other man and ended up with his lips on the youth’s hand, giving him a very light and quick kiss.

Grr didn’t know what this action meant, but also rubbed the side of the sleepy youth’s neck.

He YunTing was busy for most of the day, plus the entire day yesterday, he was more physically exhausted, and looking at Lin Han, finally became sleepy.

Since that kiss wasn’t rejected, it made him more aggressive.

In that case… he must rest for a while.

The driver’s seat was actually not very big, but He YunTing sat in the seat next to him, lying down in a somewhat strange position and sleeping beside Lin Han. He wrapped his arms around him from behind, holding his hand.

Perhaps He YunTing had kissed his hand, or perhaps he had been embracing him from behind to sleep during this half-day, and still held onto him and refused to let go.

Lin Han hadn’t woken up yet, but had a sweet dream related to He YunTing.

In the dream, they had known each other for a long time and loved each other for a long time.