The Cannon Fodder Became the Empire's Beloved Omega - Chapter 13

“As the one who revised the Imperial Code, you should be most familiar with this, shouldn’t you?”

The pitch-black chip slid before the crowd and came to a gradual halt. Immediately, a light screen unfolded, playing the recording of the earlier duel.

The petite Omega was seen pausing mid-step, deliberately twisting his ankle. Despite the dozen or so centimeters still separating the two, he performed an action as if he had been pushed, crashing heavily to the ground.

At the sight of this scene, the onlookers were utterly stunned. Ji Huai’s earlier words now echoed like a resounding slap across his own face.

Indeed, all of this had been orchestrated by Ji Huai alone!!

Fury at having their kindness deceived and exploited surged through the crowd, accompanied by a subtle sense of guilt for having wronged an innocent person.

Someone glanced apologetically at Yu Ruan and spoke up, “Ji Huai, how could you deliberately frame someone? Didn’t you always claim to despise such behavior the most?”

“I…” Ji Huai’s face turned as pale as paper, and he trembled slightly.

He instinctively scanned the faces around him, only to find that everyone had abandoned their previous attitudes, now openly displaying disdain.

The innocent and pure persona he had meticulously crafted had finally backfired on him.

Ji Huai grew increasingly agitated and frantic, his complexion worsening by the second.

At that moment, Ye Yizhou, having finished watching the recording, raised an eyebrow. “So that’s how it is.”

He swept his gaze across the room, taking in everyone’s reactions. “After all, this isn’t the first time Ji Huai has done something like this. If he repeatedly fabricates facts, this matter cannot be easily overlooked.”

“So?”

Ye Yizhou sighed regretfully. “It seems Ji Huai will have to spend a year reflecting on his actions in the Imperial Correctional Facility.”

He paused briefly, then shifted his tone. “However…”

Hearing this shift, Ji Huai immediately looked up, a flicker of hope unnoticed even by himself surging in his heart.

“However, Yu Ruan’s status is no longer what it used to be,” Ye Yizhou said, a slight curve forming at the corner of his eyes. “Tarnishing his reputation is equivalent to tarnishing the image of the entire Empire. At this point, the charge of defamation no longer quite applies.”

Realizing the implication behind his words, Ji Huai shuddered, his face instantly turning deathly pale as disbelief washed over him.

With a choked sob, he immediately turned to Yu Ruan, trembling as he rushed forward and clutched at Yu Ruan’s sleeves, weeping. “Yu Ruan! Yu Ruan, I really didn’t mean it! I had no idea it would come to this. I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry!”

“…” Yu Ruan was utterly overwhelmed by the turn of events.

He stared blankly as the protagonist shou gripped his hand, sobbing uncontrollably. “Everyone in the class likes you. I like you too! I never meant to frame you, I just lost my way for a moment. Please, give me another chance!”

“I’m an Omega, rare and precious. I absolutely cannot go to a place like the Imperial Correctional Facility!”

Wiping his tears, Ji Huai continued to weep and plead with Yu Ruan.

Watching Ji Huai’s display, Yu Ruan’s emotions grew exceedingly complex.

Truly worthy of being the legitimate protagonist shou even in such a dire situation, he remained this unyielding!

In comparison, he was so unbearably salty he ought to dig three feet into the ground out of sheer shame and bury himself.

Yu Ruan opened his mouth, about to deliver his lines as per his usual character setting. Unexpectedly, Ye Yizhou suddenly let out a sigh.

Puzzled, Yu Ruan turned to look and saw a regretful expression on the handsome man’s face. “It seems Ji Huai is very concerned about his identity as an Omega,” Ye Yizhou remarked.

Ji Huai’s sobbing immediately stopped as he stared at Ye Yizhou in panic.

“Wh-what are you trying to do?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t intend to do anything to you,” Ye Yizhou replied with a faint smile. “I just wanted to say.” He turned his gaze to Yu Ruan. “His Highness Yu Ruan is not an Alpha. Like you, he is also an Omega.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Huai’s expression shifted dramatically. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief, his body swayed, and with a “thud,” he collapsed to the ground.

An Omega Yu Ruan was actually an Omega too?!

Then all his one-sided targeting had only made him the biggest joke of all?!

Ji Huai’s face turned ashen.

The people around were just as stunned as Ji Huai. Good heavens, had they heard correctly?! Yu Ruan was actually an Omega as well?!

Shocked gazes converged on Yu Ruan, with Yu Fei’s being the most intense. Forced to respond to those incredulous stares, Yu Ruan managed an awkward smile and braced himself.

This sudden reveal had caught him completely off guard, leaving him utterly bewildered.

Yu Ruan had imagined many scenarios where his true identity might be exposed and had mentally prepared himself. But he never expected that his embarrassing unmasking would reduce the protagonist shou to such a state.

He felt both awkward and somewhat lost.

Noticing his unease, Ye Yizhou smiled reassuringly at him. “It’s alright, don’t worry. Soon, the entire empire will hear about this. Even if we don’t say anything now, they’ll find out eventually.”

Yu Ruan: “…”

Help! Was his secret of pretending to be an Alpha going to be publicly exposed to the entire empire?!

Seeing the stunned disbelief in the young man’s sapphire-blue eyes, Ye Yizhou felt a slight urge to laugh.

He cleared his throat subtly and exchanged a glance with Xie Zhi beside him. Then, he turned to Ji Huai and said, “I already gave you the opportunity you wanted. Unfortunately, it seems you didn’t cherish it.”

Ji Huai trembled again.

Watching his pitiful state, Yu Ruan couldn’t help but feel that Ji Huai was somewhat unfortunate.

It wasn’t that he sympathized with Ji Huai, but reflecting on his own situation, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from beside him. The fingertips carried a slight chill as they touched Yu Ruan’s cheek, gently turning his face toward their owner.

Gu Yu’s strikingly handsome face leaned in close, his lashes lowered as he gazed down at the bewildered Yu Ruan.

“Someone like him isn’t worth your attention,” Gu Yu said. “It’s time for you to leave.”

For some reason, Yu Ruan sensed an unusually heavy atmosphere around Gu Yu. It seemed the young master wasn’t in the best of moods.

Yu Ruan struggled to think for a moment, his sixth sense sending alarm bells that made him instinctively glance toward Lin Fenghan not far away: “But, what about the final exam? Won’t Professor Lin be angry?”

For some reason, he felt the atmosphere around the person in front of him drop several degrees the moment he spoke.

Gu Yu stared at him without a word, his gaze deep and intense. After a long pause, he slowly turned his eyes to meet Lin Fenghan’s, then reached out and directly took Yu Ruan’s hand.

Yu Ruan: “?”

He stared blankly at Gu Yu, unable to grasp the meaning behind the gesture. But Gu Yu gave him no time to think, instead firmly clasping his wrist and leading him out of the training ground.

The others immediately followed in a steady stream.

Only then did Yu Ruan belatedly realize what was happening.

He thought it over but still couldn’t quite accept the fact that he had actually ended up with the protagonist’s script.

If all of this were true, then why had he spent so long as a miserable cannon fodder on Kenan Star, never knowing where his next meal would come from?

The plot just didn’t add up!

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. Unable to hold back, Yu Ruan said, “Um, are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for someone else? I’m absolutely certain my parents were both from Kenan Star and never once left this planet.”

What if they had the wrong person? Wouldn’t that be incredibly awkward!

Yu Ruan frantically tried to contact the system in his mind, hoping to wake it up and have it search for the original owner’s information. If this really was just a big misunderstanding, there might still be time to fix it.

But before he could rouse the system, Gu Yu spoke first, accurately reciting his family background.

Then, he asked, “Is any of that wrong?”

Yu Ruan: “…”

It wasn’t wrong!

For a moment, Yu Ruan’s emotions were incredibly complicated.

Who would have thought that after so many years as cannon fodder, he would end up picking up the script of a life’s winner?

This was something he hadn’t even dared to dream of.

Yu Ruan felt dizzy, still unable to fully digest the reality of the situation.

He stared blankly at the subtly expectant looks in everyone’s eyes and couldn’t help thinking: This “Empire’s First Successor” title sounded about as common as cabbage.

Seriously, with someone like him on the throne, wouldn’t the country be doomed?

Yu Ruan grew deeply worried.

He brooded for a while, then suddenly, a very tempting idea flashed through his mind.

Since they said he was now the Empire’s First Successor, that meant there had to be a Second Successor, right? Just imagine how unhappy, angry, and frustrated that person must feel, suddenly pushed out of the succession by an outsider!

As a certified slacker, he had no illusions about being able to govern a country. Wouldn’t it be better to just sell his position as successor to the other person, take the money, and make a quick exit?

Yu Ruan could already picture it.

The former successor grandly tearing off a check, filling it with an intoxicating number of zeros, then waving it dismissively and tossing it to him, saying coldly, “Take this filthy money and get out of here, now!”

Yu Ruan’s heart raced for a second at the thought.

Instant wealth wasn’t just a dream!

A bright future was beckoning to him!

How touching!!

Even slackers could dream of striking it rich overnight.

He looked eagerly at Ye Yizhou, who appeared to hold the most authority among the group, and asked, “Excuse me.”

Ye Yizhou raised an eyebrow slightly. “Yes?”

“This role of successor might be a bit too heavy a responsibility for me.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhi smiled at him and said, “Please don’t worry. Everyone in the Capital Star will wholeheartedly assist you.”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” Yu Ruan quickly waved his hands and said sheepishly, “I think I’m still more suited to being an ordinary person. How about?”

Suppressing his embarrassment, Yu Ruan fluently poured out all the thoughts he had just formed, expressing his desire to step down immediately and retire into a peaceful life.

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