The Top-Tier Alpha Is Lured and Captured by a Green Tea Merman - Chapter 22

“By the way, I saw something today that I thought would suit you, so I bought it.”

Pei Yan took a bite of vegetables and spoke as if it were nothing of great importance.

The butler understood immediately. He promptly presented the item Pei Yan had purchased at the Underground City auction and then tossed a triumphant look at the nearby nanny.

See? I told you so. The young master isn’t some unromantic blockhead.

The nanny rolled her eyes. He’s truly a “Young Master-is-always-right” devotee.

Xie Yu froze for a moment. He had a general idea of what it was. Just as he reached out to lift the lid of the box, Pei Yan blocked him. His expression was slightly evasive. “That… don’t open it yet. It won’t be too late to open it in the room after dinner.”

Xie Yu’s eyes curved slightly. He propped his head on his hand and looked at him with a gaze full of indulgence. “Alright, I’ll listen to everything Brother says.”

The two finished their meal in record time and headed upstairs.

The door clicked shut. Xie Yu’s presence invaded from behind, his voice low and seductive. “Brother, what made you think of buying me a gift?”

“I thought it suited you… so I bought it. It doesn’t mean anything special.”

Xie Yu gripped the edge of the gift box. “Open it now?”

Pei Yan hurriedly pressed his hand down on the lid, stammering, “You… go take a shower first.”

Xie Yu didn’t say anything, obediently taking his pajamas and heading to the bathroom.

The sound of splashing water echoed from the bathroom. Pei Yan paced back and forth outside. He opened the gift box, took out the body chain inside, and then, cautiously walking to the door, gathered his courage and pushed open the bathroom door.

Xie Yu had long heard the movement, but he still cooperated by turning around with a look of surprise. “Brother, why did you come in?”

Pei Yan hid the body chain behind his back. His eyes quickly bypassed a certain area and scanned toward Xie Yu’s legs. He froze for a few seconds. “You have human legs even when you bathe?”

“Of course. Unless…” Xie Yu gave an ambiguous chuckle. “Brother rushed in so urgently because you wanted to see my tail?”

“I thought you would turn into a merman tail when you touched water.”

Xie Yu’s damp body slowly pressed closer to Pei Yan. “Then what does Brother want to do?”

Pei Yan swallowed hard, finding his throat incredibly dry. Throwing caution to the wind, he revealed the body chain in his hand. “I want to see you wear this as a merman.”

Surprised by his honesty, Xie Yu hooked his lips into a shallow smile and leaned his upper body forward slightly. “I can satisfy Brother, but I want Brother to put it on me personally.”

Pei Yan’s palms were sweating. He wasn’t sure if it was because the bathroom temperature was too high, but his cheeks were flushed a faint red. Amidst the swirling mist, his eyes seemed to glisten.

Xie Yu’s gaze gradually darkened, like a bottomless pit ready to suck the person before him inside.

Pei Yan stood slightly on his tiptoes and wrapped both hands behind Xie Yu’s neck. Everywhere his fingers touched was wet and cool; by contrast, his hands felt burning hot.

“Brother, are you nervous?”

Xie Yu’s thin lips parted as he whispered this directly into Pei Yan’s ear. Pei Yan was already inexplicably tense, and this sudden provocation made his whole body shudder.

A low chuckle followed. Pei Yan quickly fastened the clasp, gave him an annoyed glare, and pushed his body. “Stop laughing! Turn around!”

Xie Yu turned around, still smiling.

Pei Yan reached around from behind in an embracing posture to grab the chain. He accidentally touched something, causing Xie Yu’s body to suddenly tremble. His abdomen tightened, and his voice instantly turned hoarse. “Brother, don’t touch randomly.”

“……”

Belatedly realizing, Pei Yan retracted his hand as if he had been burned by fire, his cheeks burning. “Then you hold the two ends of the chain and hand them to me yourself.”

Xie Yu took his time, only handing the two ends of the chain from either side just before Pei Yan lost his patience completely.

Pei Yan took them. Because his hands were wet, they were a bit slippery. He missed the clasp several times and had to focus intently, so he didn’t notice the change in Xie Yu.

“Done.”

After fastening the clasp, he lifted his eyes, intending to admire his handiwork. However, his breath hitched, and he stared blankly.

The body chain was pale gold, intricately crafted with a hollowed-out floral pattern. A blue sapphire hung from the center at the bottom, with four or five interlaced chains extending from both sides, adorned with dozens of smaller gemstones. It crossed from the waist and abdomen to fasten behind the neck.

Strands of wet white hair fell messily over his chest. A unique, beautiful aura surged toward Pei Yan. Unfortunately, the “beauty’s” gaze was predatory; those light blue eyes carried a natural chill.

Pei Yan subconsciously wanted to hide, but Xie Yu quickly pressed a hand against the wall, trapping him in a corner with his tall frame. There was no retreat.

Pei Yan was forced to face him directly but didn’t know what to say. He could only stammer incoherently, “I’ll buy you a waist chain next time. No—as long as you like it, I’ll buy it all for you.”

Xie Yu chuckled and leaned down. “It seems Brother really likes how I look. In that case, why don’t we…”

By the time he finished speaking, Pei Yan’s face was beet red.

In the end, no one knew how the body chain ended up on Pei Yan instead, except for the two of them…

Fooling around was one thing, but in the middle of the night, an emergency report came from the Command Center. Pei Yan, clutching his waist, immediately put on his clothes. Because the situation was urgent, he didn’t have time to take off the body chain and rushed to the seaside.

Lu Xiao and He Bai had already arrived.

On the scene were two corpses, missing limbs and bloated from the water.

Pei Yan frowned. If it were just two dead people, it shouldn’t have caused such a massive mobilization; warships and firearms were already prepared on site.

Knowing he was full of doubt, He Bai explained, “Someone called for help saying they saw a Zerg. Headquarters then issued an emergency alert to notify us.”

“But when we arrived at the scene, we didn’t see any trace of the Zerg. The witness was sent to the hospital due to excessive shock. However, we found these two bodies. They were killed by gunfire, and the bullets can’t be traced. We are waiting for someone to identify them, but…”

“But what?” Pei Yan pressed.

He Bai pointed at his clothes. “You’re wearing long sleeves and the buttons are done up so high. Aren’t you hot?”

He and Lu Xiao were both wearing black tight-fitting combat uniforms. Since the weather was hot, they were short-sleeved. Yet, Pei Yan was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, and unusually, he had every single button fastened.

Perhaps because of He Bai’s reminder, Pei Yan suddenly became aware of the discomfort of metal rubbing against his skin. He said vaguely, “I’m not hot. I thought the seaside would be cold…”

He didn’t want to continue this topic and turned to examine the corpses. He felt one of them looked a bit familiar. Before he could identify it, a familiar and annoying voice came from behind him. “Commander Pei, we meet again.”

The three of them were startled, as they hadn’t heard any sound of approach.

Pei Yan’s gaze sharpened. He spun around with a sweeping kick, which was effortlessly parried by Xie Yu. He teased, “Commander Pei is as fierce as ever.”

“Cut the crap!” Pei Yan didn’t give him any face. “What are you doing here?”

Xie Yu spread his hands. “I’m here to claim my employees, of course.”

Pei Yan’s brow furrowed even deeper. “These two were staff members of the Underground City?”

“Correct.” Xie Yu turned his gaze toward the vast sea, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. “Perhaps they came for the merman.”

The sea breeze rose, and Xie Yu’s long white hair fluttered wildly, brushing against Pei Yan’s face. It was both itchy and painful. Pei Yan stepped back with a wooden expression, increasing the distance between them.

Noticing Pei Yan’s aloofness and defensiveness, Xie Yu smiled faintly. “Commander Pei doesn’t need to be so tense. I won’t do anything to you.”

Pei Yan didn’t want to waste more words with him.

However, the man’s comment about “coming for the merman” sparked a thought. After all, the auction was a mix of good and bad people. It was possible someone had designs on it, but because the owner of the Underground City interfered, they didn’t want to offend him openly. So, they waited for the staff to release the merman and then committed murder and robbery.

Following this line of thought, the robbery of the merman could be a vital lead.

Pei Yan shared this theory with Lu Xiao and He Bai. They also nodded, agreeing that it was highly likely. Now, they just needed the auction’s attendee list to screen and exclude suspects one by one.

“With the list, things will be easy. The problem is, the Underground City is a place beyond jurisdiction…” He Bai glanced at the tall, imposing man. “Will he give it up?”

Lu Xiao added, “The people on that list likely span across various star systems. They are the Underground City’s partners and power players. He won’t show it to others easily.”

“Brother, I…”

The habitual term of address slipped out. Xie Yu’s smile instantly froze. Fortunately, Pei Yan didn’t think too deeply into it, only shouting displeasedly, “Who are you calling Brother!”

Beside them, Lu Xiao gave Xie Yu a thoughtful, scrutinizing look.

Xie Yu, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost blown his cover.

He adjusted his expression and said, “If Commander Pei wants the list, I can provide it.”

Pei Yan didn’t think he would be so kind. “The price?”

“No price,” Xie Yu smiled. “Except that only Commander Pei is allowed to see it.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll make it public?”

“I believe Commander Pei wouldn’t do that.”

Pei Yan pondered for a moment. “Fine, I agree.”

At this moment, Lu Xiao stepped forward and pressed a hand on Pei Yan’s shoulder. “Wait a second.”

Sensing the feeling of something hard under his palm, combined with the anomaly of Pei Yan’s clothing, Lu Xiao’s expression changed slightly as if he had realized something.

Being adults, he could more or less guess what was going on.

Xie Yu, meanwhile, was smiling like a spring breeze.

Pei Yan was still immersed in the case. He blinked, confused. “What’s wrong?”

Lu Xiao pursed his lips, withdrew his hand, and looked at Xie Yu. “We don’t have to see the list, but we are coming along.”

He felt this white-haired man was very dangerous and couldn’t let Pei Yan stay alone with him.

Xie Yu narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint gathering in his gaze.

Lu Xiao didn’t back down either.

The two once again engaged in a silent war.

Suddenly, Xie Yu smiled—a fake one, of course.

“Fine.”

Currently, “Brother” still held a sense of resistance and wariness toward this identity of his. He couldn’t leave a bad impression.

Lu Xiao: “……”

This feeling of being thwarted felt strangely familiar.

The group headed to the Underground City. Pei Yan and Xie Yu entered the room while Lu Xiao and He Bai stood guard outside.

Lu Xiao said, “Do you feel like this person is very familiar?”

Inside the room, Xie Yu’s footsteps paused.

He Bai shook his head. “No impression. But I can bet my life that there’s no such figure among the people I know.” He leaned naturally against Lu Xiao’s shoulder. “Why? Do you think he looks like someone?”

Lu Xiao mused, “It’s just a feeling. It still needs verification.”

Xie Yu walked to the desk, took out the attendee list from a cabinet, and handed it to Pei Yan. Just as Pei Yan was about to take it, Xie Yu pulled it back quickly, emphasizing once more, “Commander Pei must keep this a secret.”

“I know.”

Pei Yan said impatiently, taking the list from his hand. He flipped it open and was instantly startled.

The list contained many big shots from various star systems that he was well acquainted with. It seemed the power behind the Underground City was even more terrifying than he had imagined. Furthermore, to avoid detection, these people might just be the ones sent out to show their faces; the real powers behind them could be even greater.