Forcibly Marked by My Fiancé’s Best Friend - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

A flicker of playfulness flashed in Xia Zhi’s eyes as he looked at Lian Xu, his eyebrows arching slightly.

“Wife?”

Yu immediately pulled Lian Xu into his side, eyeing the mud-covered man—whose smile was bordering on sycophantic—with sharp suspicion.

“What are you laughing at? Are you two close?”

Xia Zhi’s smile receded slightly. “Just as close as you are.”

Yu paused, stunned.

Then, he heard the man say: “Long time no see, Junior.”

Now it was Lian Xu’s turn to look at the two of them with amusement.

Junior?

“Oh, it’s you.” Yu showed zero respect for his senior, acting as if he couldn’t care less who the man was.

His attitude was ambiguous; neither Xia Zhi nor He Yu had ever mentioned the other. This left Lian Xu momentarily bewildered.

Yesterday, Xia Zhi had only recognized Lian Xu and hadn’t paid attention to the Alpha beside him. He hadn’t expected his junior to be the very person he was looking for.

If he had known earlier, he would have just shown the video to He Yu directly. Perhaps the two would have been together long ago, saving everyone these twists and turns.

Xia Zhi scrutinized He Yu.

He had first met He Yu during the final assessment at the military base. Back then, he had a face full of aggression—a far cry from the innocent, harmless-looking youth in the video. The discrepancy was simply too large.

That was why Xia Zhi hadn’t made the connection at the time.

Looking at him now, though the changes were vast, those dangerous eyes hidden in the darkness were identical. Especially now, as He Yu held Lian Xu’s shoulder, his eyes radiating a murderous aura.

They looked even more alike.

He should have guessed sooner.

“Why are you alone?” Lian Xu asked, sensing He Yu’s pheromones becoming turbulent and deliberately trying to change the subject.

Yu breathed in the faint scent of Lian Xu’s pheromones from the nape of his neck, gradually lowering his guard.

“They’re on the other aircraft,” he said. “We brought someone else out, too.”

“Oh?”

Yu buried his head in Lian Xu’s neck, sniffing the Omega’s scent like a wolf cub.

“Wife, stay away from him.” You didn’t call him out by name, but Lian Xu could guess who he meant.

Just as Lian Xu was about to ask why, he heard the man behind him say in a voice full of grievance and complaint: “He’s not a good person.”

Xia Zhi twitched the corner of his mouth, feeling that even if he claimed he was being framed, no one would believe him.

…

The base had completely collapsed, and the ruins sank into a hollow. The people who had been wandering around earlier had stopped moving, standing there stiffly.

Lian Xu looked back at Xia Zhi, who showed no obvious reaction.

Xia Zhi also looked out of the aircraft. To him, there was no longer a difference between being alive or dead. He would find Adrian, find a quiet place, and be buried together with him.

But he couldn’t achieve that alone.

“Adrian, when the war is over and the dust settles, shall we leave the Empire and fly far away?”

Xia Zhi suddenly remembered the words he had spoken to Adrian before they set out. Adrian didn’t know what “flying far away” meant, but he had agreed anyway.

He had said that wherever Xia Zhi went, he was willing to go.

Xia Zhi looked at Lian Xu again and smiled, deliberately provocative: “Little Lian Xu~”

Hearing the voice, He Yu immediately looked up, on high alert.

“Don’t forget what I told you.”

Yu’s brow furrowed.

In just a short while, these two already had little secrets?!

Lian Xu lowered his eyes. The base was destroyed, ending the inhumane human modification experiments. However, the rare earth the commander had ordered him to find hadn’t been located yet, and He Yu refused to leave.

Night was approaching. After tonight, he would only have one day left. As for the promise he made to He Yu, it was merely a stalling tactic to soothe the Alpha.

His mind was a mess. He had no idea how to complete the mission in such a short time while also neutralizing these feelings.

For a moment, he felt an impulse to confess—to say that his engagement to Yin Zhuo was a matter of mutual exploitation. But he couldn’t be that selfish; He Yu had barely escaped with his life.

Lian Xu pushed He Yu’s face away and said coldly, “Go see the person you brought back.”

Yu held him even tighter. “What’s the rush?”

“Wife, I missed you so much.”

Lian Xu clenched his fists and said sternly, “It’s all over. Stop acting.”

A few seconds later, his voice trembled slightly as he spoke through gritted teeth: “We were just putting on a show. Don’t forget, my fiancé is still waiting for me in the Empire.”

He Yu froze.

The brief moment of warmth had truly made him forget that there was still someone like Yin Zhuo standing between him and Lian Xu.

He irritably licked the tips of his teeth, then abruptly let go of Lian Xu and exited the aircraft.

As the hatch slammed shut, Xia Zhi asked him, “What’s this about a fiancé?”

Lian Xu closed his eyes, his thoughts racing, when a roar sounded outside.

Dozens of giant aircraft were sweeping toward them.

Lian Xu looked out; He Yu had already piloted his aircraft into the air, shielding him.

“It’s an ambush,” Xia Zhi said. “When we first landed years ago, we encountered a scene just like this. Surrounded by dozens of aircraft—they don’t kill, they only disable. They wait until you’re forced to crash-land, then they rush in to capture people.”

Lian Xu vaulted into the cockpit, quickly buckled his seatbelt, and started the engines.

The base was gone—why was this still happening? Was there more than one base?

He didn’t have time to think. He activated defense mode and radioed He Yu, telling him to leave.

They were outnumbered; survival was the priority.

But He Yu, seemingly triggered by something, was determined to stand his ground.

“You go first, I’ll be right behind you.”

Lian Xu bit his lip, wanting to kick the speaker out of the aircraft.

Within seconds, the enemy aircraft were within firing range, their speed terrifying.

“Lian Xu, let’s go! I don’t know what those aircraft are made of, but they’re indestructible!” Xia Zhi warned.

Since He Yu wouldn’t leave, Lian Xu couldn’t possibly abandon him.

The two of them flew side-by-side, waiting for the enemy to attack.

The more indestructible a weapon seems, the easier it is to expose a fatal flaw.

The enemy aircraft flashed their lights, and just as they began their assault, Lian Xu spotted the exposed connection wiring at the bottom.

Though concealed, it wasn’t impossible to hit. He just needed to get close, fly underneath, and then flip his craft so his missiles would strike the circuit board from below.

“He Yu…”

“I’ll pin them down, you attack from below,” He Yu said.

He had spotted the exposed wiring too. The two of them had reached the same conclusion simultaneously.

The enemy aircraft were numerous, almost surrounding the two of them as they launched continuous volleys. Yu piloted his craft in defense mode, constantly absorbing the hits to clear a path for Lian Xu.

The two worked in tandem, rapidly closing the distance.

Lian Xu pulled the joystick, performing a high-speed roll as he slid beneath the enemy aircraft. Boom! The missile hit the target, while the shockwave sent Lian Xu’s craft tumbling dozens of meters back.

Xia Zhi scrambled up, rubbing his head. “What is this thing? It actually took damage?”

With the aircraft they used to fly, doing what He Yu did—actively intercepting missiles—would be suicide. And that maneuver Lian Xu just pulled? In the past, it would have blown them up along with the enemy’s circuit board.

Lian Xu kept one hand on the buttons and the other on the joystick. “It’s a new aircraft built by the Commander. It’s still in the testing phase.”

“Is that man a god?!” Xia Zhi, who usually maintained refined manners, swore for the first time.

Three years! He had only been away from the Empire for three years, and it had already advanced to this level?!

“And the war? Is it over?”

“Temporarily,” Lian Xu said. “Lacala is in full retreat and should be regrouping, but it will take time to kick them out of the Empire completely.”

Xia Zhi slapped his thigh hard. “Satisfying!”

Lian Xu glanced at Xia Zhi out of the corner of his eye. “How do you know about Lacala?”

Xia Zhi froze.

Lian Xu suddenly halted his movements, hovering the aircraft in mid-air.

“You aren’t Xia Zhi?”

“I am Xia Zhi.”

“But you aren’t the Xia Zhi I know,” Lian Xu said.

Xia Zhi brushed his hair back, nonchalantly revealing a hideous scar on his forehead. “Ha? You finally noticed, Little Lian Xu.”

“Lian Xu, don’t go back. What’s so good about the Empire? Why don’t you and He Yu stay here, or go to a planet without war and live out your lives in peace?”

Lian Xu clenched his fists. “Impossible.”

“Everyone has a mission to fulfill from the moment they are born. I live to protect the people I want to protect.”

Xia Zhi nodded. “Does that include the Empire?”

“He loves this planet, so I will do everything in my power to protect it.” Lian Xu paused. “When you arrived on the Desolate Planet, the war hadn’t even begun.”

“True, it hadn’t. But I understand the entire process, including that Commander. Lian Xu, you’re right; everyone has something they want to hold onto. Adrian is here, so I must protect him.”

“But Adrian is dead!” Lian Xu growled. “Unless you lied to me about that, too.”

Xia Zhi shook his head, staring at the fading light outside. “I didn’t lie to you. Adrian is dead, but his heart is still in that person’s hands. I won’t hurt you, as long as you stay until everything is over…”

“In your dreams!” Lian Xu slammed the buttons and pulled the joystick to its limit, accelerating away. “Tell me the truth—did you call these aircraft here?”

Xia Zhi remained silent.

Lian Xu sighed; he had been careless.

The aircraft landed on a patch of lush green grass. Lian Xu drew a dagger from his hip.

“My combat assessment has always been S-rank. I joined the Lacala operations a year ago, and combined with my field experience this past year, what do you think your chances of surviving my hands are?” Lian Xu unbuckled his seatbelt, eyeing Xia Zhi coldly.

The space inside the cockpit was cramped and difficult to move in, but for Lian Xu, that wasn’t an issue.

The silver blade pressed against Xia Zhi’s neck. With a slight flick of Lian Xu’s wrist, a bright red line appeared.

“If I kill you, Adrian’s heart will never be recovered,” Lian Xu threatened. “Make them leave.”

Xia Zhi looked at Lian Xu calmly. “If I don’t finish the mission, I won’t get what I want anyway.”

“If you don’t do as I say, I’ll just have to endure the trouble of handing over your corpse to complete my task.”

Lian Xu curled his lips into a disdainful smile. “Then try it. See if you have the ability.”

“Fine, let’s try,” Xia Zhi said with a smile. Then, he suddenly grabbed the optical computer on Lian Xu’s wrist. “If you don’t come over right now, he’s going to lose his life, Junior…”