My Omega Rival in Love [Interstellar] - Chapter 7

Gu Jin frowned, unmoved, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest. “Is that so? And where is your team leader?”

“The leader…” Xiao Wang began, but a knock at the door cut him off. A man with a square beard and a face etched with subtle wrinkles walked in, wearing a smile so polished it was impossible to see through.

“Young Marshal Gu, this was all so sudden. I couldn’t make it back in time; please forgive the delay. I am Hu You, the leader and person in charge of the investigation team for the mech accidents during the Battle of Planet Rota.”

Hu You walked over to the desk. He glanced at Gu Jin’s feet propped up on the surface but didn’t humiliate himself by reaching out for a handshake. Instead, he gave a perfect gentlemanly bow, leaving no room for criticism.

Gu Jin gave a long, lazy yawn, then suddenly burst out laughing, leaving everyone confused.

Waving her hand, she finally took her feet off the desk and checked the time. “I want all the data on the new mechs and the keys to all the evidence storage rooms for this case. Also, the person in charge of this investigation has changed. You’re still the team leader, but the person in charge is me. Am I clear?”

Leaning forward with one hand on the desk, Gu Jin stared him down. Her silver-gray eyes flashed with undisguised malice, showing she couldn’t care less about what they thought of her.

“Understood.” Led by Hu You, the team bowed respectfully, not daring to defy her.

Gu Jin raised an eyebrow. “If you understand, why am I still holding my hand out?”

The room instantly sprang into action. Hu You placed the keys into Gu Jin’s palm, and the notification pings on her optical computer sounded like a drumbeat. In less than thirty seconds, the transfer was complete.

“Tsk, tsk.” Gu Jin spun the keys around before tucking them into her quantum compression ring. She sauntered out from behind the desk and clapped Hu You on the shoulder. “It seems Leader Hu’s word carries a lot of weight. I waited here for ages and they wouldn’t give me a thing. Impressive, Leader Hu.”

“It was only because the team members were being cautious. Your appointment was quite sudden, Young Marshal, and they hadn’t quite processed it. Given how sensitive this material is, they didn’t dare act rashly.”

His explanation was seamless. Hu You kept his head low in a submissive posture. Gu Jin’s smile didn’t reach her eyes; if she were truly just a reckless hothead, she might have actually been fooled by this smooth talk.

“So that’s how it is,” Gu Jin said calmly, as if she hadn’t noticed anything wrong. Then, her gaze sharpened as she scanned the office. “But from now on, I run things here. I’m from the military—I care about one thing: strict obedience to orders! Since my transfer order has been issued, every command I give here is a direct order you must follow. Otherwise, I have the authority to terminate your careers on the spot.”

She emphasized the last sentence heavily. With a cold snort and a final glance at Hu You, she turned and left, indifferent to the gossip she left in her wake.

Once outside, she glanced at the files marked “Top Secret,” started her aircraft, and headed straight for the He residence.

She was an expert at piloting mechs, but that didn’t make her an expert at building them. “To each their own specialty”—when it came to design and manufacturing flaws, it was better to consult a professional.

When Gu Jin arrived, He Yu was watering some flowers she had brought from the original home planet. Though they were clearly well-tended, the flowers looked practically dead.

Dismissing the two soldiers to the gate, Gu Jin sat down on the edge of the flower stand. She raised an eyebrow at He Yu, her face practically screaming ‘Ask me what I’ve got!’

He Yu glanced at the slightly idiotic Gu Jin, then took her watering can, stepped onto a nearby stool, and poured the water directly over Gu Jin’s head.

Gu Jin, who never imagined He Yu would actually do it, was soaked to the bone. She wiped the water from her face, her eyes closed, her lips curling into a smile that signaled a storm was coming.

She shook her head like a wet dog, splattering water all over He Yu, and then started walking away. He Yu stood her ground, having no intention of stopping her. Stop her? She felt like killing Gu Jin; she wasn’t about to ask her to stay.

But Gu Jin didn’t need to be asked. After two steps, she stopped as if frozen, shook her hands, and nodded to herself.

In the next second, everything became a blur. Gu Jin, who had been five paces away, was suddenly in front of He Yu, aggressively pinning her against the flower stand with a look of suppressed fury!

Aside from an initial startle, He Yu didn’t panic. She looked at her “masterpiece” with a calm, satisfied gaze; she felt it was still too light a punishment! She had talked a big game about that night being “no big deal,” but the truth was, it was her first time! And that shameless Gu Jin had actually permanently marked her!

What did that mean? It meant she would forever bear Gu Jin’s brand. Unless she eventually found a partner who was an Alpha stronger than Gu Jin which, in the Vizer Empire, was likely a person who hadn’t even been born yet she would never be able to overwrite that mark.

Of course, there was one other way: to do it again and have Gu Jin retract the mark. To He Yu, that was a fate worse than death.

She couldn’t speak of it, for fear of sounding like she wanted Gu Jin to take responsibility, but keeping it inside was suffocating. And yet, this oblivious jerk kept hovering around her every single day! God knew how much He Yu wanted to punch her.

Gu Jin, who had been genuinely angry, watched the woman beneath her. He Yu’s expression shifted from calm to a visible, rising fury, leaving Gu Jin completely baffled. She even forgot she was supposed to be the one who was mad.

Seizing the moment, He Yu shoved Gu Jin’s shoulders and pushed her away. She steadied herself against the flower stand and stood up. “Gu Jin, I’m warning you: you’d better stop showing up in front of me! Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from killing you!”

Gu Jin, who was born without a romantic bone in her body, couldn’t fathom the real reason. She was simply stunned by the sudden warning.

However, she managed to find a shred of wisdom and decided not to add fuel to the fire. She remembered her actual mission.

“Before you say that, you should look at these first. If you still feel the same after reading them, I won’t argue.” Even a clay Buddha has a temper; Gu Jin’s tone wasn’t great either. She sent the files she had just received to He Yu’s computer and stood to the side to dry her hair.

Seeing Gu Jin actually being serious, He Yu’s logic suppressed her anger. She opened the files. With just one glance, her brow furrowed tightly.

After a rapid scan of the material, He Yu looked up. “Where did you get this?”

“From a bunch of idiots,” Gu Jin replied, tossing her wet hair. She pulled the keys from her quantum compression ring. “This is for the evidence storage. So, interested?”

“I…” He Yu started to speak, then stopped herself as if remembering something. The frustration in her eyes and her clenched jaw betrayed her inner turmoil. “I can’t. I don’t know how you got these, but I am a member of the He family. I can’t touch these things.”

He Yu deleted the files instantly, leaving no trace. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I’ll act as if I never saw this. Don’t worry, I won’t betray you. I may not like you, but I won’t let my family’s troubles drag you down. Just go.”

She turned toward the bedroom, afraid she would change her mind. After all, those files were the key to saving her parents!

Gu Jin was surprised, but then she smiled knowingly. If she had actually taken them that easily, she wouldn’t be He Yu.

In three quick steps, Gu Jin grabbed He Yu’s arm and blocked the door with her other hand. “I didn’t steal or snatch these. I am now the person in charge of the investigation into your parents’ case. I got these from that team leader, the one named ‘Hu You’ (Who-you/Nonsense). The problem is, I can’t make heads or tails of it. So, He Yu, I need your help.”

Gu Jin was never one for pride. Her dignity was as cheap as her morals. In a crisis, she would act weak, beg, or even roll around on the ground if it worked. Asking for help was easy.

And that was exactly what got through to He Yu. Looking at Gu Jin’s hand on her arm and the earnest expression on her face, the sarcastic retort He Yu had prepared died in her throat.

After a long silence, He Yu finally spoke. “I’m a He. This is a He family case; I can’t interfere. I appreciate the gesture, but if I agree, I’m only hurting you.”

Gu Jin knew He Yu desperately wanted to clear her parents’ names but felt bound by her identity.

She pulled He Yu down to sit beside her, her face still grave and persuasive. “He Yu, don’t think of this as just your family’s business. On a small scale, this is about Planet Rota and the thousands of soldiers who died there. On a large scale, this is about the Vizer Empire. As long as the truth is buried, there will be countless more Planet Rotas!”

“So, don’t feel like you’re doing this for yourself or your parents. You’re doing this for the Empire, for everyone.” She took He Yu’s hand and pressed the keys into her palm. “Everyone has the right to know the truth.”

Looking at this side of Gu Jin—a side she had almost never seen—He Yu realized that over ten years, this person hadn’t remained entirely unchanged. Perhaps she had just hidden everything beneath a cynical mask.

“Why do you trust me? Why do you trust me and my parents?” He Yu squeezed Gu Jin’s hand, demanding an answer. When she first heard about the catastrophic losses caused by the mech failures, even she had questioned her own designs. So how could Gu Jin be so sure it wasn’t her fault?

Realizing she had won He Yu over, Gu Jin’s guard dropped, and her smart mouth took over. She gave a cheeky, roguish wink. “Does the fact that we’ve slept together count?”

“Gu Jin! Go to hell!”

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