The Dense Beauty Fought Over By Top Alpha Twins - Chapter 5

That night, Ning Qing unexpectedly had a dream.

Dreams were inherently illogical, but this particular dream was undeniably far too embarrassing for him to speak of.

Beep, beep, beep.

The faint, monotonous beeping of a heart monitor grated on his nerves. The blinding light of the surgical lamp blurred the faces of the medical staff surrounding him.

Ning Qing realized he was wearing loose hospital robes, the hem pulled up to his chest. He was pinned down in an awkward, spread eagled posture, his wrists and ankles firmly secured to the bedrails by leather restraint straps.

A needle pierced his vein, followed by a cold probe penetrating deep into his reproductive cavity, sending a violent shiver through his body.

Where… was this place?

The lead doctor was a man with deep set facial features. The sharp brows and eyes exposed between his surgical mask and cap gave Ning Qing a vague sense of familiarity.

Who is he?

He couldn’t recall.

The doctor touched Ning Qing’s lower abdomen with equally icy hands. “It’s time for your physical examination again. We’ll perform a minor procedure today as well. Are you nervous, Qing?”

“If it hurts, you can bite my left wrist.”

In truth, the doctor’s movements were extremely restrained. However, to Ning Qing, the sensation of being stretched open felt both sore and numb.

A sense of shame instinctively urged Ning Qing to call a halt, but obedience was a soldier’s second nature. Having undergone military training, Ning Qing subconsciously refused to plead for mercy easily.

To avoid making an embarrassing scene, he simply bit down on the doctor’s wrist with his canine teeth.

The procedure progressed slowly.

In his hazy state, Ning Qing felt as though his soul had detached from his body. He watched a poor version of himself lying on the pure white hospital bed, black hair scattered, eyes tightly shut, letting others manipulate his body into disgraceful positions. The doctor gently brushed the stray hairs away from his forehead and lifted his chin to check for any adverse reactions.

What was even harder for Ning Qing to accept was that the doctor was probing deeper and deeper into his body.

“Enough…”

Ning Qing couldn’t help letting out a low gasp after all. The doctor had pressed directly against a spot that was swollen and aching to its absolute limit, causing a long accumulated warm fluid to trickle down drop by drop.

The doctor offered a high evaluation of the organ. “Excellent. The level of development is remarkably good. After a few more sessions like this, you’ll definitely be able to conceive a child smoothly.”

Conceive a child.

Those three words echoed in Ning Qing’s hazy consciousness like an alarm bell.

Something’s wrong.

Why would he get pregnant? He was going to join the Expeditionary Corps in the future. How could he succumb to the instinct of reproduction and abandon his future? This couldn’t possibly be his choice.

Ning Qing snapped awake from the delusion.

Though his limbs were restrained, Ning Qing suddenly bit straight through the doctor’s blood vessel. The sharp taste of rust exploded in his mouth.

“I never made an appointment for any cavity therapy.”

“Who on earth are you?”

“Not answering? It doesn’t matter. I know you’re…”

Ning Qing struggled so violently that he nearly broke free from the restraints. However, a dose of strong sedative was injected directly into the back of his neck, causing his head to limp sideways once more.

Ciel let out a quiet sigh.

It seemed the little cat they picked up had teeth that were a bit too sharp. He would have to find an opportunity to smooth them down properly.

He pulled a small, portable home treatment device from a hidden drawer. Instead of rushing to heal the wound under the light, he remained pressed close, letting his blood, saturated with a dense concentration of pheromones, drip into Ning Qing’s mouth drop by drop.

He wanted Ning Qing to remember the scent of an Alpha, until the simple exposure to pheromones would make him involuntarily fall into arousal.

Ning Qing sank into yet another layer of a golden dream.

Someone was gently stroking the corner of his eye, though he couldn’t tell if they were wiping away cold sweat or tears.

The room was warmed nicely. He was taking a long afternoon nap on a newly discovered planet in the outer star sector. Yet his sleep was fitful; he curled up, hugging his knees while mumbling in his sleep.

“Ah Qing, what’s wrong? If something’s bothering you, you can tell us.”

His father tucked the quilt around his small, curled-up figure in the corner.

Having not seen them for twelve years, even in his dreams, his father’s face remained covered in a blank fog.

“I’m fine, Dad.”

Burying his face in the blanket for a moment, the quieted Ning Qing replied softly. A few teardrops hung on his long, curled eyelashes before being quickly wiped away.

What else could he say?

Should he tell them that Sector 7 had already fallen to a tsunami like swarm of Zerg, and that his parents, along with everyone in the pioneer team, had left no survivors?

Or should he say that after finally making it to the Imperial Military Academy, he was now exhausted both physically and mentally by a secondary differentiation?

Stop being naive.

He needed to be stronger, even more powerful, until he could crush every obstacle standing in front of him.

With that thought, all light roared and faded into the distance.

When he forced his eyes open from the nightmare, a surge of stomach acid welled up in Ning Qing’s throat, feeling as though someone had grabbed his stomach and punched it. He covered his mouth, leaning over the nightstand to dry heave, but nothing came out.

Suddenly, a hand stroked down his arched spine, making the hairs on his neck stand on end.

Thinking he was still trapped in a hallucination, Ning Qing turned around, only to find Ciel soothing his back.

Ciel said softly, “Senior, you’ve slept for a day and a half, and you have a fever. It’s completely normal to feel unwell upon waking up.”

“I’m… sick?”

Only then did Ning Qing realize his voice was as raspy as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper. The mirror diagonally across from the foot of the bed reflected a flushed face, moist and red from the tip of his nose to the corners of his eyes, reminiscent of the color of berries.

So it was just a nightmare brought on by a fever.

Thank goodness.

Sitting by his bed, Ciel handed him a cup of warm milk that the robot housekeeper had just heated up, using the back of his hand to test the temperature of Ning Qing’s forehead. “Your fever has gone down a lot now. It was burning hot when I found you yesterday.”

Ning Qing’s stomach growled right on cue. Skipping formalities, he offered a quick “thank you” and drank it all down in one gulp.

The milk was warm and sweetened with sugar. Once in his stomach, it greatly relieved the burning sensation.

In the interstellar era where Earth was no longer habitable, food replicated through technological means was undoubtedly a luxury. Feeling appreciative, Ning Qing slowly and thoroughly licked the rim of the glass with his tongue, leaving a trace of white foam on his lips.

Setting the empty glass on the nightstand, he noticed Ciel staring intently at his lips.

“Hmm?”

Due to a slight lack of oxygen, Ning Qing’s brain was working somewhat slowly. Between his slightly parted lips, the tip of his tongue peeked out subtly.

It looked less like he was tasting milk and more like… something else.

Sitting against the light, Ciel’s gray eyes appeared even darker. He pulled a silk scarf from a drawer and wiped away the smudge for Ning Qing. “Senior, your lip is a bit dirty here.”

It wasn’t a particularly intimate gesture, but ever since his parents passed away, no one had spoken to Ning Qing with such casual care.

The momentary confusion in Ning Qing’s mind was instantly replaced by warmth.

His junior was actually quite a good person.

However, he was wiping far too slowly. Was it really necessary to rub every inch of his lip peak and lip corners inside and out?

Ning Qing blinked hard. Seeing that Ciel had no intention of letting go, he took the silk scarf with his teeth, wiped his mouth clean in an instant, threw off the blanket, and stepped out of bed. “Thanks for the heads-up, but I can handle small things like wiping my mouth myself.”

His entire sequence of movements was as swift as a agile leopard cat, so slick that Ciel couldn’t even catch a trace of his shadow, leaving only a lingering warmth on his fingertips.

Still, there was no scent of Ning Qing’s pheromones.

“Where are you going, Senior?”

Swoosh! Ning Qing yanked open the curtains. The midday sunlight poured in, making the floating dust in the room sparkle brightly.

Nightmares weren’t reality, but the strange visions in the dream did reflect the obstacles he had to overcome. Ning Qing coughed lightly. “A lot of time has been wasted already. There are six hours left before dark, so let me hurry up and start training.”

Ciel wanted to indulge in the warm moment a bit longer, but Ning Qing kept moving without delay, refusing to cater to Ciel’s lingering pace. Ciel could only follow closely behind, their shadows trailing one another.

Viewed from behind, the small braid hanging down to Ning Qing’s shoulder blades swung side to side like a feline’s tail, making one desperately want to tug on it, yet remaining just out of reach.

Ning Qing’s state adjusted far faster than expected. Even with a low fever, he appeared completely flawless, looking like a battle hardened warrior from the outer stars.

Even more interesting.

In front of the slowly opening gates of the mecha hangar, rows of searchlights of various colors lit up simultaneously.

At that moment, Ning Qing suddenly turned his head, a rare flicker of sympathy passing through his eyes. “When you invited me over, did you prepare yourself mentally?”

“Oh? What aspect are you referring to, Senior?”

Before meeting Ning Qing, Ciel had already flipped through his personal profile completely. He knew that Ning Qing disliked getting close to strangers, hated arrogant people, and perhaps had some childhood trauma. Was there anything else to keep in mind?

As it turned out, there was.

Two S-grade mechas faced off in the rainforest training ground.

Ning Qing’s introductory mecha instructor had once told him that the best way to bond with a teammate was to have a match with them first.

That was precisely Ning Qing’s plan. Pointing the beam saber equipped on his mecha directly at the opponent, he said, “I won’t hold back next. You just make sure to use your full strength.”

Ciel gave a helpless reply.

In truth, between the two brothers, his younger brother was actually the one more skilled in combat.

An hour later, the battle came to an end. Ciel’s mecha had its energy core impaled by a longsword and was pinned to the ground, forced to flash its surrender indicator light.

Ning Qing twirled the sword gracefully as he sheathed it. “Sorry, I’m not very used to operating S grade mechas.”

Ciel finally understood where those “hater fans” on the secret forum came from.

No matter who it was, anyone who was beaten to the ground and then had to listen to the winner boast would probably feel like fucking this oblivious Beta to the point of a complete breakdown.

The hundred meter tall mechas were retracted back into spatial rings. After dropping from the sky to the ground, the two maintained the same posture as their mechas. Ciel lay on the grass, looking somewhat defeated.

Ning Qing squatted down and extended a hand to him, racking his brain to come up with words of comfort. “You’re already very impressive.”

He hadn’t expected Ciel to lose so quickly either.

“At least, much stronger than the mecha department students from our year.”

“Still not as good as you, though.” Ciel maintained his smile, giving Ning Qing a yank downward. “I noticed the view here is pretty nice. Want to lie down for a bit?”

Caught off guard, Ning Qing rolled right onto the untouched, soft green grass.

Phew.

Grass fragments and fallen leaves fluttered in the gentle breeze, warm and comforting, dispersing the long accumulated anxiety, restlessness, and resentment in his heart. Unknowingly, his head leaned close to Ciel’s, and the strands of hair lifted by the wind brushed over Ciel’s high, straight nose bridge.

Ning Qing stared blankly at the sky, the combat portion of his brain still running.

“The reason you lost to me wasn’t due to any issue with your operating skills or mental strength capacity. It’s that you didn’t focus on controlling your mental energy consumption, which left you unable to maintain high-intensity defenses in the late game. That kind of situation can be trained by doing a few more battles of attrition.”

“Speaking of battles of attrition, though, things are a bit tricky now.”

Ciel knew what he wanted to say. To avoid the meaningless consumption of vital forces, after the full scale war with the Zerg ended, the Empire drastically reduced the number and frequency of fleets deployed to the outer star battlefields.

Unless the central star sector was affected, the standard procedure for handling a Zerg invasion was nuclear cleansing, they wouldn’t resist for long.

Only the militia organized spontaneously within a planet were willing to fight such thankless battles.

Clouds were reflected in Ning Qing’s eyes as he took a deep breath. “Opportunities like that are hard to come by now. Let’s continue training.”

The preliminary round of the Interstellar League was coming up soon. The competition rules had undergone a temporary change this year, making thorough preparation all the more necessary.

“Sure.”

At that moment, Ciel was gently picking a withered leaf from Ning Qing’s hair, his outline blurring slightly in the halo of light.

Ciel was always like this, gently accepting all his requests and removing every obstacle for him.

Was Ciel’s only condition really just to help him deceive his parents?

Wouldn’t this deal be a bit too unfair?

The night before the competition, Ning Qing soaked in the luxurious bathtub at Ciel’s place for a long time. The water surface covered the bridge of his nose, exposing only his eyes and a few strings of bubbles he blew out.

For some reason…

The patch of skin at the back of his neck was growing hotter and hotter.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one could see him, Ning Qing knelt halfway in the water, sliding his hand downward along his toned abdomen.

The area the doctor had touched in his dream… was undergoing some changes that were hard to describe.