Lu Ziqian reached out with both chubby little hands to accept the present. Looking up at the tall, imposing security officer, he gave him a shy smile and said in a tiny voice, “Thank you, big brother~”
“You're very welcome.” An Ke nodded to the little cub with his usual composure, then spun around and hurried back into the airship so quickly that even his steps became unsteady.
Heavens above, the little cub smiled at me!!! For the first time in his ordinarily unflappable life, the captain was practically dancing with excitement inside.
“Ahhhh, the boss got a smile from the little one! I'm so jealous, QAQ!”
“He's so good, so adorable! Help!”
“When I saw the customer's information yesterday, I thought the kid traveling with him would be the same fierce, intimidating type…”
An Ke listened to his crew chattering, collected himself, and cleared his throat. “Don't discuss our clients.”
“Understood. Ahem.”
The transport airship slowly started up, and everyone settled into their seats. Lu Ziqian even had a cub cabin all to himself, painted pastel pink and blue and filled to the brim with plush toys.
“Attention, passengers. Our estimated flight time is two hours. If you require anything, please press the button on the upper wall of your cabin. We will be happy to assist you promptly.”
The captain's voice, still tinged with excitement, sounded through the overhead speakers.
Lu Liran looked over at Lu Ziqian. The little fellow was nestled in his cabin, surrounded by stuffed animals, eyes happily narrowed. He had even let out his little rabbit-hawk. There wasn't the slightest hint of nervousness about taking an airship for the first time.
Reassured, Lu Liran turned his attention to the work at hand.
He opened the livestreaming platform and visited different streamers' broadcasts to observe and learn. He intended to conduct his very first livestream during his next bounty assignment.
He still hadn't the faintest idea what people were supposed to say while livestreaming. The thought occurred to Lu Liran yet again.
The two-hour flight passed quickly. For the first time, the captain and his crew were actually disappointed to encounter passengers who made no requests whatsoever during the journey. They had been desperate for a chance to interact with a human cub!!!
“It was a pleasure serving you.” Captain An Ke and his crew stood before Lu Liran and his party.
The little fellow had slept through the smooth flight and was still somewhat dazed. Carrying his little rabbit-hawk and the plush toys from his cabin, he climbed out by himself, leaned against Lu Liran's leg, rubbed his eyes, and gave a tiny yawn.
Lu Liran was about to return the toys when An Ke hurriedly said, “Please take them with you! Since Young Master Lu likes them!”
He paused, realizing their client was probably very particular about what belonged to whom, then added, “We insist. They were prepared especially for Young Master Lu, and they're already included in the fee.”
The three crew members behind An Ke nodded along, gazing hopefully at the little cub.
In fact, all four of them had paid for the toys out of their own pockets the day before.
Amused, Lu Liran nodded without exposing the captain's clumsy excuse. He glanced at An Ke and the others and dipped his head, his expression softening slightly. “Then thank you very much. Cubby, what do you say?”
“Thank you, big brothers and sisters~”
“Y-you're welcome!” An Ke met Lu Liran's warm brown eyes and froze instinctively. What beautiful eyes—so gentle and warm. If he could ignore the pheromones surrounding the man, he would have sworn they smelled of milk candy.
The man before him always carried a bold, unmistakable scent of agave. An Ke had assumed it was a territorial warning and that Lu Liran was an aggressive, difficult alpha. But now he felt that perhaps he had been mistaken.
An Ke quickly recognized his error. The moment he'd seen the client's unfriendly, even stern and intimidating face in the booking information, he had formed a prejudice. When they'd first met, he'd even released his own pheromones unconsciously, like an immature alpha reacting to a challenge.
Of course, perhaps Lu Liran's pheromones simply had a natural talent for setting other alphas' nerves on edge.
A little guilt welled up in him. How difficult could an alpha raising a child alone really be? Even if he appeared overbearing, surely that was just a protective shell forced upon him by circumstances!
He raised his head toward Lu Liran and suddenly offered, “Please let us help carry your belongings into your room! That's part of our job, too.”
Lu Liran blinked. He had no idea what dramatic change of heart this kindly captain had just experienced. All he knew was that the man seemed to be looking at him with… considerably more maternal concern than before.
He didn't refuse their help. With four extraordinarily efficient former special-operations soldiers assisting them, their move went so smoothly and easily it was almost unbelievable.
“Mr. Lu, if you need anything in the future, or if Young Master Lu ever needs any help, please contact us! We'd be delighted to provide free services for a precious cub!” Before leaving, An Ke looked at Lu Liran and sent him a friend request.
Lu Liran accepted An Ke's request on the StarNet but declined the offer. “Excellent service. Five stars. If I need anything in the future, I'll contact you about another rental.”
A trace of disappointment crossed An Ke's face. Having his sincere goodwill mistaken for nothing more than a business arrangement left him as wilted as an eggplant after a frost.
“All right, then. We look forward to working with you again.” The captain rallied his spirits.
Jin Fei decisively escorted the three reluctant crew members—and their captain—out of the hotel suite, sensing a faint threat to his own job security.
Once back aboard the airship, a short crew member exclaimed, “Boss, something's not right with you! You were incredibly attentive to that alpha client!”
“It was obviously because of that adorable little cub,” the only female alpha among the crew retorted.
An Ke rubbed the tip of his nose and slowly protested, “I just think… Mr. Lu isn't quite what he seems on the surface. Maybe he'd make a good friend.”
“Boss, something is definitely wrong with you!!” All the crew members stared at him with wide eyes.
///
Meanwhile, on another planet, Ke Ji, the Federation's First Commander, had finally returned home after a war that had dragged on for seven years.
His chief of staff and close friend, Bronte, accompanied him. Apart from Ke Ji, there was no one left in that house. Everyone else had been lost in the war.
Ke Ji walked over to the family clock. The enormous clock covered an entire wall, but it wasn't used to tell time. It was a sophisticated technological device that functioned much like a family tree.
The names of all the family members and the connections between them appeared on its massive face. Now, however, only three names still shone with the light of life.
Ke Ji paused. Three names?
He took a sudden step forward, almost pressing himself against the display. Beside his own name, two new names had appeared, like a pair of tiny planets orbiting him—Lu Liran (Desolate Star) and Lu Ziqian (Desolate Star).
“Lu Liran? That missing child from the Lu family? I remember he boarded that airship, didn't he? He's actually alive?! I'll notify the Lu family right away…” Bronte spoke in a rush.
Then he abruptly stopped and whipped his head around toward Ke Ji. “Wait a damn minute. Since when did you hook up with someone from the Lu family?! And you have a cub?!”
“You actually got a member of the Lu family pregnant and had a child?!”
“And you let a child of the notoriously protective Lu family live out there for years?!”
“You're dead.”
The chief of staff fired off accusation after accusation like a barrage of artillery shells.
Ke Ji said nothing. He stared fixedly at the two names on the clock face until, a long while later, he spoke in a hoarse voice. “Bronte, I'm going to find them.”
“Well, obviously!”
“You'll take over my duties temporarily. And get me a false identity,” Ke Ji said.
Bronte hesitated, then understood. The war's consequences had practically reduced that planet to a wasteland, and Desolate Star had the strongest anti–Ke Ji sentiment of any planet. If Ke Ji went there under his real identity, there was no telling whether another civil war might break out.
“All right.” Bronte pressed his lips together and nodded. “Where on Desolate Star are they?”
“I don't know.” Ke Ji shook his head. “The clock's detection range is limited. But I'll find them.”
“Desolate Star is the largest planet in the A69 star system! It's the size of three ancient Earths! You're going to look for two people in all that?!” Bronte stared at Ke Ji in disbelief, wondering whether the tremendous surprise had knocked some sense out of their brilliant commander.
“I just want to get there first. They're the only family I have left.” Ke Ji exhaled.
He turned toward Bronte. His ordinarily restrained, steady pheromones abruptly fluctuated, filling the air with the scent of gunpowder and smoke, threaded with the faint smell of blood.
Even Bronte, a beta who was generally insensitive to pheromones, finally caught the powerful scent radiating from Ke Ji. Memories of the battlefield's killing fields rose unbidden. It was like a nightmare.
He shook his head and hurriedly said, “All right, I understand. I'll make the arrangements immediately.”
A Note from the Author:
Ke Ji: You'd better give me an identity that can withstand a background check.
Chief of Staff: How about an idle rich kid who does nothing all day?
Ke Ji: …Perfect.
