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ntranslator: baumkuchen editors: serefina, glitterypanda

nThat night, after the promise was made, Ji Zuoshan didn’t sleep at all. He thought about a lot of things.

nIn the mecha academy, no one dared to bully Ji Zuoshan.

nOf course, it wasn’t because Ji Zuoshan was tough. It was because Zhan Yanchao didn’t allow him to fight with anyone at all, to the point that everyone joked behind their back that Zhan Yanchao wasn’t raising a human sacrifice, but was raising a little wife.

nSince he was the Omega Zhan Yanchao had set himself on long ago, of course no one dared to touch him.

nThere were, of course, ugly words and speculations, but whenever Ji Zuoshan heard them, he never took them to heart.

nHe’d been hearing barrowloads of ugly words from Zhan Yanchao for so many years now, a few comments that barely brushed the skin were nothing.

nEvery time he heard those sarcastic little barbs of “little Young Master”, Ji Zuoshan would always think, not without a tinge of pride, Yanchao promised me that I won’t be a human sacrifice.

nBecause he had been given hope, Ji Zuoshan also had many thoughts he shouldn’t have had.

nZhan Yanchao liked him. This, Ji Zuoshan could confirm.

nAfter all, other than him, practically no one else of his age was willing to tolerate his horrible temper.

nThis kind of being each other’s “only one”, the tyrannical Zhan Yanchao liked it very much, and found it very suitable.

nThis person’s love and hate were both incredibly intense. When he hated, he hated so much that he would want nothing more than to tear the flesh off Ji Zuoshan’s body. When he loved, he would then become clingy, sticking himself to Ji Zuoshan and force Ji Zuoshan with threats to say how much he liked him.

nJi Zuoshan’s ears reddened slightly. He said, “Don’t fuss.”

nHanging off of him, Zhan Yanchao bit his ear. “I’ll stop when you say it.”

nJi Zuoshan thought for a moment. “I like you as much as I like my siblings.”

nZhan Yanchao glared. “Surnamed Ji, you’re just asking to get lashed, aren’t you?”

nJi Zuoshan had no choice but to say. “I like you more than I like mechas.”

nZhan Yanchao laughed loudly, “Not enough. Not enough not enough not enough.”

nJi Zuoshan, given no other choice with how the other was wrapped around him, thought for another moment, then replied, “I like you more than I like myself.”

nAfter that, Zhan Yanchao wrapped him in a hug and kissed him, kissing him until Ji Zuoshan couldn’t make any more noise.

nEvery single thing Ji Zuoshan had said was true.

nIn his heart, he himself was of course placed last, mechas were number two, and his siblings and Zhan Yanchao were the ones he valued most.

nHe thought, if he could become a top Alpha, he would be able to leave the Zhan home and build two gardens bigger than the Zhan home. One would be for his siblings, and the other would be for Zhan Yanchao, to avoid the two fighting.

nHe, Ji Zuoshan, didn’t have that big a dream. He just wanted to be on equal footing with the person he liked. As they shopped together in the winter, they would share a scarf, and share a baked sweet potato.

n……Just like what he’d seen when he was younger as he held his older sister’s hand, following behind his Beta parents on the streets.

nHis promises were like mountains, so he had thought Zhan Yanchao’s promise to him would be like a mountain too.

nThinking of those past, unrealistic dreams of his, Ji Zuoshan’s cheeks burned.

nBut what other choice did he have.

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nHe had been bought as a human sacrifice for Zhan Yanchao. Over these few years, the Zhan family had taken care of his younger siblings and his life. How could he say that he didn’t want to do it now?

nJi Zuoshan had known the rules of the mecha tournament for a long time.

nWinning or losing decided who had ownership of the energy, and how much by which one had won or lost decided how much energy was to be transferred.

nThe amount of energy that could be obtained from a crushing defeat, a decisive victory or a draw was completely different.

nSometimes, one loss was enough to result in the majority of the energy in one’s body transferred away.

nTherefore, in the tournament, as long as one side had the advantage over the other, they would want nothing more than to pressure the other until they were half-dead. And those who were pushed into a disadvantage would also do their absolute best. Even if they managed to get it to a draw before admitting defeat, it was much better than losing miserably.

nAfter all, the slightest difference was like the difference between heaven and earth. So in every tournament, there would inevitably be deaths.

nThose they were called soldiers were cultivated in these kinds of battles that could determine one’s life or death.

nHaving lost his hope, Ji Zuoshan just carried out what Zhan Yanchao asked of him in the mecha tournament, winning dully and unenthusiastically.

nZhan Yanchao was even quite unhappy. “Why aren’t you crushing them? I wanted you to give them a shock.”

nJi Zuoshan used a dull tone to hide his resignation, “If my performance is too outstanding, then when the time comes and I lose to you, they would think I purposely let you win and would doubt your abilities.”

nActually, even without Ji Zuoshan letting him defeat him, Zhan Yanchao was also a very remarkable mecha pilot.

nZhan Yanchao of course didn’t want to be misunderstood by others. Pulling Ji Zuoshan into his embrace, he curled Ji Zuoshan’s hair around his index finger and murmured, “I’ve also taken pains. Isn’t it because I’m scared you’ll run?”

nJi Zuoshan asked back, “Why would I run?”

nZhan Yanchao said, “If you become an Alpha, wouldn’t you run?”

nJi Zuoshan, “I wouldn’t run.”

nZhan Yanchao slung his arms around his neck. He snickered, “I’d be a fool to believe you. All Alphas are ambitious. If that time came, you’d definitely run so fast I wouldn’t even be able to catch your shadow. If you become my Omega and I mark you, there’ll be nowhere for you to go. You’ll be mine for the rest of your life.”

nZhan Yanchao had been born lacking this cord called “trust”, and Ji Zuoshan had no way of making Zhan Yanchao believe him, believe that his promise was true.

nIt wasn’t like he could rip out his heart for Zhan Yanchao to see.

nHe could only dully win all his matches, until he met Zhan Yanchao.

nEven Zhan Yanchao hadn’t expected Ji Zuoshan to let him have his way to this extent. Mechas were naturally heavy. Ji Zuoshan only gave him a single gap, yet three of his ribs ended up broken.

nBut he still forced himself to bear it, never showing even a hint of defeat. Even as his fortunes declined, he still wouldn’t admit defeat. Against reason, he acted exactly the same as he had in his previous matches. Anyone would think that Ji Zuoshan’s defeat was reasonable and fair.

nOnly after fighting for a long time did Zhan Yanchao realise something wasn’t right. He took the initiative to stop, got out of his mecha and slipped into Ji Zuoshan’s.

nUpon feeling his sunken-in ribcage, Zhan Yanchao slapped him across the face in rage. “Are you crazy?! You’re already this hurt, why didn’t you call for me to stop?!”

nJi Zuoshan lay in Zhan Yanchao’s arms. As he endured the slow dissipation of his energy and spiritual force, he thought, that debt from all those years of kindness, it’s all been paid off now.

nAfter close to a year of rest, Ji Zuoshan degenerated into an Omega.

nThe smell of his pheromones was the light scent of red wine, with a note of orange mixed in.

nOn the other hand, Zhan Yanchao was so angry he spent every day swearing at others.

nHis pheromones had the slightly sweet scent of milk, smelling especially unintimidating.

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nHowever, there were still a lot of benefits to being an Alpha. Zhan Yanchao marked Ji Zuoshan practically the moment he was able to. He spent every day hanging onto him, claiming that he wanted his scent to move over to him.

nAfter becoming an Omega, Ji Zuoshan’s body was simply feeble compared to before. He could only let Zhan Yanchao rub him, and when he received the occasional lashes from Zhan Yanchao’s whip, the intense pain was simply impossible for him to bear.

nEvery time they joined, when he couldn’t bear it anymore, Ji Zuoshan would say to Zhan Yanchao, it really hurts, slow down.

nZhan Yanchao said, “Why are you being so unreasonable? You weren’t like this before.”

nEven though he would pay a little attention to his strength afterwards, those words made Ji Zuoshan feel utterly powerless.

nIndeed…… he hadn’t been like this before.

nA little more than half a year after they got together, the Zerg swarm invasion broke out once more.

nWhen the overwhelming mass of armoured insects attacked, the city turned into a battleground. Broken and burning pieces of steel limbs and mechas melted into one, making it impossible to distinguish between humans and insects.

nZhan Yanchao of course needed to go to the frontlines, but he had yet another one of his untimely “brilliant” ideas.

nHe said to Ji Zuoshan, “Come with me.”

nJi Zuoshan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I can’t.”

nHe had originally planned on retreating with his younger siblings to the underground fortresses, where there were abundant resources and resting points for Omegas to gather, which could provide comprehensive services for these Omegas with low combat power.

nZhan Yanchao said, “I’ll send your younger siblings away, you come with me.”

nRealising that Zhan Yanchao wasn’t joking, Ji Zuoshan truly didn’t know how to talk him down. “What would I do if I went with you? I currently can’t help you anymore.”

nZhan Yanchao said, as if it was obvious, “I want to see you ah.”

nTo Zhan Yanchao, Ji Zuoshan had long since become a basic life necessity.

nOn the battlefield, how could he not bring his towels and toothbrush?

nJi Zuoshan said no, and Mister Zhan also didn’t agree. In response to this, Zhan Yanchao’s temper flared up, saying that if Ji Zuoshan wasn’t going then he wouldn’t go.

nJi Zuoshan said, helpless, “You can’t not go, that’s unreasonable.”

nZhan Yanchao was filled with the power of shamelessness. “I’ve done a lot of unreasonable things.”

nUpon realising that this person wasn’t going to listen to sense at all, Ji Zuoshan could only give in, and at the same time, pack a huge amount of suppressants in his luggage.

nOn this planet, Omega’s heats came on a monthly basis. Ji Zuoshan had just had his last heat, but he still needed to be prepared.

nOut of every tragedy that occurred in this world, most stemmed from this moment of inaction.

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nsere: OOOOK so my least favorite people are arrogant spoiled brats. I hope CXC smashes his ass

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