After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It - Chapter 52.1

Chapter 52.1: Under The Fireworks, It Was Crowded, But Zhu Yunqi Still Recognized The Omega She Had Been Thinking About Day and Night.

By the time the intergalactic train stopped at its final destination between the Mid-Star Domain and the Lower Star Domain, Zhu Yunqi had completely calmed down. She thought that this was Shi Li’s farewell gift to her. It must be that Shi Li also felt that their goodbye at the amusement park was too rushed and wanted to say a proper farewell.

Hai Yao’s eyes darted away from her, as if she were looking at a terrible Alpha who forced her girlfriend to have an abortion.

Zhu Yunqi couldn’t help but laugh wryly. “It’s just a flower. Nothing else. If you don’t believe me, ask Tang Yingchi.”

Hai Yao was half-convinced. “You had such a big reaction to a flower? I asked her all the way here, but she wouldn’t tell me.”

“It’s because it’s a flower I really like. So my reaction might have been a little big.”

Was that what you’d call “a little big”? She was so ready to rush into the cockpit, snatch the controls from the train captain, and fly back.

Hai Yao’s eyes widened in shock. She belatedly remembered that Zhu Yunqi actually had an intergalactic train driver’s license…

Thank goodness Zhu Yunqi came to her senses in time and didn’t cause a major disaster.

She scoffed. “What’s so great about a little white flower? You said you liked those red roses at the bar last time, and now it’s a little white flower.”

“That was a Rhodes rose,” Zhu Yunqi corrected her. “Little white flowers also have their own beauty.”

They arrived at the space jump station.

The jump station was built near the Sigma star system, the most remote part of the Mid-Star Domain. Here, they applied for a miniature starship specially designed for long-distance intergalactic jumps. The starship was propelled by antimatter, “traveling” from this jump point to other pre-set jump point exits. Because each jump required a huge amount of energy, it demanded extremely high mental and physical qualities from the starship operator. Hai Yao said she would get nauseous during jumps, so Zhu Yunqi chose to go through a few more jump points to reach the Black Star Belt, instead of jumping directly from the first point to the last one, like when she had gone from the Black Star Belt to the Upper Star Domain.

Upon arriving at the Black Star Belt, Hai Yao immediately ran to the side and threw up. Zhu Yunqi handed over the starship to the relevant personnel and patiently waited for Hai Yao to finish throwing up before they walked out of the Black Star Belt space jump station together.

Outside the jump station, the distorted nebula was like a torn wound, and the dark red ionized gas was slowly wriggling. The Federation’s most famous fortress—the Ark Fortress—stood on it. From a distance, you could see the huge energy turrets in the center of the fortress used to shield the sun and the plasma flow cannons arranged intermittently along the edge of the fortress.

The Black Star Belt couldn’t be called a complete star domain. It didn’t have star systems that could be classified according to the standard system. It was a deadly area on the border of the Federation, composed of shattered planets, gravitational vortices, and electromagnetic storms, forming a natural death maze. The Silver Serpent Legion was stationed on the outskirts of the Black Star Belt all year round. The control over mechs and starships was extremely strict; otherwise, they could easily be sucked into dark matter clouds, intergalactic dust storms, etc. Anyone who was accidentally sucked in basically never came out alive.

In the morning, they were still on the prosperous and wealthy Planet Z3291 in the Upper Star Domain’s capital, and by night, they had already arrived at the barren Black Star Belt.

Zhu Yunqi tightened her grip on the box in her pocket.

The dried flower Shi Li gave her could continue to bloom in such an environment.

Back at the dorms. The members of the Sea Serpent Squad all lived on the same floor. They could choose between double rooms and single rooms. Zhu Yunqi lived in a single room at the end of the hallway. Hai Yao shared a double room with her Beta partner, Raven.

The Sea Serpent Squad had a total of nine members, all female, including six Alphas: Silver Ring, Hai Yao, Queen, Shroud, Manjusaka, and Rusty Nail;

And three Betas: Raven, Bone Flute, and Selene.

On the way back, Zhu Yunqi had already received their end-of-leave applications. Except for Bone Flute and Shroud, who were still on the way, the others had all arrived at the Black Star Belt. The usually diligent Raven and Manjusaka had already gone to the training room to prepare for the upcoming work.

A few bags of things were piled up in front of Zhu Yunqi’s door. There was food, accessories, and even a bottle of hair dye. They were all brought back by her teammates from their respective vacation spots to feed her.

Zhu Yunqi took a little time to tidy up her dorm room. She found a three-dimensional photo frame and placed the white crystal chrysanthemum from Shi Li inside. The card Shi Li wrote was placed on the back of the frame.

It was 6:30 p.m. Upper Star Domain time. She wondered if Shi Li was off work yet. Zhu Yunqi lay on her bed, letting her mind wander.

Just take it slow. Given enough time, even the deepest feelings will fade. Zhu Yunqi comforted herself. Besides, she was still in the stage of a one-sided crush on Shi Li, far from the point of being an unforgettable love. She figured she would forget her even faster.

Suddenly, Zhu Yunqi remembered what Tang Yingchi had once said: She also specially designed a robot, and when she’s done, she’ll show it to you.

What kind of robot did Shi Li design?

She hadn’t seen it until she left Z3291. She wondered if she would ever have a chance to see Shi Li’s specially designed work in this lifetime.

Zhu Yunqi stared out the window at the flickering nebula, lost in thought. A box of diamonds was placed by the window. There were tortoise-shell red, coral orange, pear yellow, peacock green, and inky black… all kinds of colors, and different sizes and shapes. They were all gems she had picked up herself during her years in the Black Star Belt.

Shi Li had said that she had never seen a photo of a Black Star Belt diamond. Now she had them right in front of her, but she didn’t have the courage to take a picture and show Shi Li.

Not long after, Hai Yao and a few teammates came to call her to go eat. As soon as they spoke, Zhu Yunqi felt that the atmosphere was off. Hai Yao’s eyes were darting around, and the others were looking at her with a probing gaze.

Zhu Yunqi felt uncomfortable from being stared at. “What’s wrong with all of you?”

Hai Yao first declared, “Captain Zhu, I already told them in advance that everything I said was my personal guess and not guaranteed to be true. Whatever they think has nothing to do with me.”

Zhu Yunqi directly addressed Hai Yao’s roommate. “Raven, what did she tell you?”

Raven was an older sister with a blunt bob and red lipstick with a smoky eye makeup look. She sold Hai Yao out without hesitation. “She said you fell in love with an Omega in the Upper Star Domain, but the person ignored you, and you’re now heartbroken and in love pain, so we should be careful with what we say these days.”

Hai Yao was still stubborn and believed that Zhu Yunqi liked Shi Li. Tang Yingchi’s shipping talk seemed too ridiculous to her.

Hai Yao jumped. “Raven! You said you’d keep my secret!”

She was completely ignored by Raven.

Manjusaka fiddled with her silver hair. Her silver eyes stared at Zhu Yunqi, and she rubbed her hands like a fly. “Captain Zhu, is what Hai Yao said true? Are you really heartbroken? Why doesn’t the Omega like you? Why didn’t you confess to her? We’re so bored in the Black Star Belt. We really, really want to hear some gossip.”

Zhu Yunqi gritted her teeth. Hai Yao couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

Since Hai Yao was being unrighteous first, she shouldn’t blame her for being unrighteous too.

Facing the crowd’s eager gaze for gossip, Zhu Yunqi cleared her throat. “Hai Yao, I heard that you and Ms. Tang have developed to the point where you can touch each other’s butts. So what is your relationship now? More than friends, less than lovers?”

As soon as she said this, the crowd’s gossiping gazes immediately shifted from Zhu Yunqi to Hai Yao. Hai Yao was shocked. “I never touched her butt! She was the one who kept touching mine!”

Everyone: ???

This gossip seemed even more exciting than Captain Zhu’s gossip.

Hai Yao’s mouth was faster than her brain. By the time she realized what she had said in her haste, it was too late. Everyone didn’t dare to “get touchy-feely” with Zhu Yunqi, but Hai Yao was on the same level as them, so they could “torture her to get a confession.”

After this commotion, Zhu Yunqi’s mood, which had been close to depression due to the farewell, eased up a lot.

In the evening, Zhu Yunqi was called to Colonel Cheng Yin’s office. Cheng Yin gave her the combat missions for the next two weeks. Zhu Yunqi took it and looked at it. They were all very routine patrols and scattered attacks. It seemed that the Black Star Belt was relatively peaceful recently.

Cheng Yin smiled kindly. “Last time you caught a space pirate in Z3291, the military followed the trail and caught several moles. The pirates must have gotten the news, so they’ve been quite well-behaved lately.”

After talking about business, Cheng Yin asked about Zhu Yunqi’s private matters. “The information protection you requested during your vacation was related to your engagement. What was the final result?”

Zhu Yunqi replied, “It’s pretty much canceled.”

Cheng Yin was not familiar with the twists and turns of political marriages. She offered a symbolic word of comfort. “It’s okay. You’ll meet someone better. I know some good Omegas. I can introduce them to you if I get the chance.”

Zhu Yunqi politely declined.

In the next few days, they patrolled as usual, annihilated a few pirate teams that wanted to scout the area, and went behind enemy lines to eliminate a Zerg legion. In their spare time, they practiced mechs, weapons, and close-quarters combat.

The only thing that added a little color to their lives was Hai Yao’s gossip. One time, she thought no one was in the dorm and was on a video call with Tang Yingchi, but she was caught red-handed by Raven, who was practicing stealth and had integrated herself and her blanket into the head of the bed.

Raven repeated everything Hai Yao had said shamelessly during the call, word for word, to the entire team that day.

Hai Yao pretended to be angry, but later she just gave up and stopped hiding it. Zhu Yunqi often heard Hai Yao’s laughter on the other end of the optical computer communication.

Zhu Yunqi didn’t show much reaction on the surface, but she was secretly envious of Hai Yao.

She and Shi Li had met first. Hai Yao and Tang Yingchi had met later because of her and Shi Li’s relationship, but they were so close now. She had to think for a long time before sending a single message to Shi Li. The words she typed into the chat box would be deleted, re-edited, and deleted again. It was as if nothing she said would be satisfying.

After training that day, Zhu Yunqi was going back to her dorm to shower as usual. Hai Yao was with her.

On the way from the training room to the dorm, Hai Yao received a video call from Tang Yingchi again.

Hai Yao adjusted the floating camera to about half a meter in front of her and talked to Tang Yingchi as she walked.

Zhu Yunqi consciously moved to the side a little.

Not long after, she heard Hai Yao say, “Next to me? Someone’s next to me. Captain Zhu is with me. Do you want to say hi to Captain Zhu?”

The next second, Hai Yao’s camera was aimed at Zhu Yunqi. “Captain Zhu, Tang Yingchi. Say hi.”

Zhu Yunqi waved at the camera, and her smile was fleeting.

She didn’t know what Tang Yingchi said to Hai Yao next, but Hai Yao shared the video call with Zhu Yunqi. Tang Yingchi’s side could see both of them at the same time, and Zhu Yunqi also saw what was on Tang Yingchi’s video.

There were many people around Tang Yingchi. She said to Zhu Yunqi with a grin, “Wait a sec. I’ll show you your favorite couple.”

The camera flipped.

Zhu Yunqi first saw a large display of fireworks exploding under a black sky, like the brilliant nebula drifting freely in the Black Star Belt.

Under the fireworks, it was crowded, but Zhu Yunqi still recognized the Omega she had been thinking about day and night.

In Tang Yingchi’s camera, Shi Li was looking up at the sky. Her eyes were reflected with various colors of fireworks, like a movie was playing quickly in her eyes.

She had become even thinner, with a faint smile on her lips, and the tear mole under her eye was still as lovely as ever.

Shi Li stood there, as beautiful as a painting.

It would be even better if Wen Yue wasn’t by her side.

Zhu Yunqi’s face changed, and her brows furrowed slightly.

It seemed that after she left, Shi Li and Wen Yue were living a happy life. They were even out to watch a fireworks show together.

Tang Yingchi thought she was happy and said smugly, “They seem to be quite happy together now, so Zhu Yunqi, you don’t have to worry anymore. Your favorite couple isn’t giving out knives anymore. They’re giving out candy now.”

Zhu Yunqi: “…”

Support After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It