Chapter 113: Does He Want Kids?

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

He couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Zhou Yunchen would not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Lu Yao’s flightcraft had not yet disappeared from view. Zhou Yunchen immediately rushed to the garage, started his military craft, activated stealth mode, and tailed him closely.

The simple system of the public transport craft couldn’t detect military camouflage, so he could follow Lu Yao all the way. Once they returned to the mountaintop villa, he could shift into the snow leopard and jump down. Lu Yao couldn’t drive him off… Wait—that wasn’t the route out of the city toward District Eight.

Why was Lu Yao heading further into the city center? Accelerating, Zhou Yunchen followed and realized Lu Yao had steered toward New Blue Star’s central commercial district. Bright neon and virtual projections bathed the skyline in vivid purplish-red hues. The flightcraft descended into the streets, blending with the pink-blue glow of city lights.

From above, the downtown skyscrapers shone brilliantly, but at street level, most shops were closed for the night. Only a few automated stores remained operational. The streets were nearly empty. A fine rain began to fall, forming a delicate curtain that added to the quiet hum of the city. Lu Yao’s craft cut through the cold rain toward the financial district.

After business hours, the financial district was even quieter, more desolate than the commercial streets. Buildings loomed darkly, metallic in the night.

Lu Yao landed and disappeared into the few lit areas among the metal jungle. Federation Stellar Bank? Through the rain, Zhou Yunchen squinted. At this hour, why was Lu Yao at the bank?

Had something from earlier triggered him? Was he buying financial products? Life insurance? But the bank should have closed hours ago… At the bank entrance, a human manager holding an umbrella greeted him. They nodded in recognition and entered the empty bank together.

They didn’t go to the upper reception rooms. Through a side glass wall, Zhou Yunchen saw them heading downward. The lower level contained vaults, safety deposit boxes, and specialized security measures. Lu Yao wouldn’t be looting the vaults at night. He must have been retrieving something from the deposit boxes. But what?

Zhou Yunchen hovered above on the suspended roadway, watching the bank’s entrance, mind racing.

Half an hour later, the bank manager escorted Lu Yao out. He carried a full-metal lockbox, corners flashing in the lamplight. Zhou Yunchen recognized its specification—extremely high security.

Lu Yao didn’t take a public flightcraft. A specialized Federation Stellar Bank vehicle emerged from the garage, brushing past Zhou Yunchen’s craft, stopping beside Lu Yao.

A silent human bodyguard and a blue-lit intelligent security robot escorted him into the vehicle. The special vehicle’s tail lights blurred in the rain as Zhou Yunchen slowly followed.

He was still pondering whether Lu Yao would return to the mountaintop villa or head to the base, when the black vehicle turned onto a familiar road—toward Zhou Yunchen’s villa.

Zhou Yunchen: ! Lu Yao was coming back to his home… after running out on his own!

Realizing this, Zhou Yunchen slammed the throttle, ascending to higher lanes, then accelerating to chase back home at top speed. Rain streaked across the windshield, forming silver sheets before being wiped away. A large droplet suddenly hit, blurring the view. The human bodyguard flinched defensively.

Lu Yao glanced out at the 3D street below. “It’s fine. Just passed through a bigger cloud.”

The puddle swept away, the city returned to quiet, bathed in the purplish-red glow.

The military craft drifted into the villa garage. Zhou Yunchen called the AI to start quick cleaning and drying. As he was about to leave the garage, he glimpsed Lu Yao’s flightcraft had already landed. He froze.

Lu Yao stepped out carrying the lockbox, escorted by two bodyguards holding umbrellas to the front door. Zhou Yunchen didn’t want Lu Yao to notice his tailing tonight. Resolutely, he shifted into the snow leopard, slipped out through the garage’s back door, and after the bodyguards watched Lu Yao enter, he climbed the villa wall like a dart, reaching his bedroom balcony.

“Did something just pass by?” one bodyguard caught a glimpse of black movement in his peripheral vision. He looked back, but saw nothing.

“Detected personnel,” the security AI’s optical sensors tracked the second-floor balcony, curtains fluttering in the wind. Moments later, lights turned on, a figure appeared, captured by the AI: “Personnel identity: Federation General Zhou Yunchen. Owner of this residence. Classified as security personnel.”

Second Floor of the Villa. Lu Yao paused at the steps before Zhou Yunchen’s bedroom door. Light leaked through the crack, revealing the presence of the owner. After a moment of thought, he continued along his planned path, heading to his own room on the fourth floor.

After the divorce, Zhou Yunchen hadn’t changed the layout of the fourth floor; even the house-cleaning robot continued its routine. Lu Yao didn’t rest immediately, instead turning to the study. The highly protected lockbox sat on the floor beside him as he opened a screen and joined a group chat.

“My dear dad, why are you awake and chatting at this hour?” came a voice full of grumbling. Mo Feng struggled out of bed, messy hair falling over his face as he sank onto the sofa. Chang Jian, at the office, also seemed to be listening in during a work break.

“I have a problem,” Lu Yao said.

“Go ahead,” Mo Feng rubbed his face painfully.

Chang Jian noticed the background behind Lu Yao. “You’re not at the mountaintop villa? This room looks familiar… Zhou Yunchen’s house? Is your question about him?”

“Yes,” Lu Yao said. “You know I can’t have children, but… I don’t know what Zhou Yunchen thinks.”

“You’re asking us this?” Chang Jian was surprised. Neither he nor Mo Feng had experience in such matters.

Mo Feng said, “Lu Yao, I’m a Beta. I can’t really have children, and I like alpha boyfriends—who can’t either. I can’t give you advice on this.”

“And Chang Jian?”

“He?” Before Chang Jian could speak, Mo Feng, woken up in the middle of the night, shook his head frantically. “He hasn’t even figured out his own standards for choosing a partner. How could he help you?”

Chang Jian said, “While I think offspring is an important part of love and family life, they are not essential. Mutual respect and understanding between spouses matter more.”

Mo Feng groaned, “Listen to him. He’s so… traditional. No, not traditional—primitive. All he thinks about is strong alpha, weak omega, A outside, O inside. He wants a strong, caring, soft omega alpha partner, but he himself can’t be a gentle omega. Full of schemes and arrogance, he should look for an M-type partner instead.”

If “traditional,” then it was only centuries ago—during the turbulent era of the Federation when old systems were being overturned, and radical change swept through society.

Those waves had subsided over time. The universe is vast; people live according to their preferred lifestyles. That became the pragmatic choice. Some legacies remained—certain planets retained unique marriage systems, removing economic ties from unions, requiring love-testing machines for marriage registration. “Primitive,” then, was closer to early Earth cultural thought.

Chang Jian shot Mo Feng with a sharp look. Mo Feng looked innocent. “Am I wrong? You like alphas who prefer gentle omegas. But you aren’t a gentle omega. Logically, they wouldn’t like you. Better to leave it be—for them and for yourself.”

Chang Jian pressed his forehead, wanting no more of Mo Feng’s rant. “Back to the original question, Lu Yao. Your situation is different from a typical omega. You cannot have children. You have no choice. Only two paths remain with Zhou Yunchen: acceptance, or breakup. So technically, it’s not even a question.”

“But… will he be sad?”

Chang Jian: “?”

Mo Feng: “?”

No one could believe these words had come from Lu Yao. Cold and aloof as he was, when had Chief Engineer Lu ever cared whether someone else would feel sad?

Lu Yao explained, “This is something he could have had, but now must give up. Even if he accepts reality and chooses to stay, will there still be regret?”

“Lu Yao, you are confusing ‘could’ with ‘has been,’” Chang Jian said.

He seemed to grasp Lu Yao’s line of thought. Lu Yao posed the question of “will he be sad?” as a hypothetical, secretly premised on the fact that he himself felt no sadness or hurt over the matter.

In general cultural perception, infertility is indeed framed as a source of sorrow and regret. But because Lu Yao had no personal experience of such feelings, he couldn’t deduce Zhou Yunchen’s ultimate response. Hence, he had come to ask others’ opinions.

“I’ll give an example. Say… right now, you have the ability to destroy New Blue Star, right?”

Lu Yao thought for a moment, then nodded in confirmation.

“Now, New Blue Star is still operating normally, hasn’t been destroyed. Would you regret that?”

Lu Yao fell into thought again.

Chang Jian: “?” Why hesitate on this question? Did you really consider destroying New Blue Star? Just as the thought reached Chang Jian’s throat, Lu Yao shook his head.

“Good, very good,” Chang Jian exhaled in relief. “You understand the logic yourself. From this, Zhou Yunchen will not feel sad simply because a capability remains unexercised. If he does, it probably means his logical reasoning is flawed. I suggest you provide him with some instructional guidance.”

Zhou Yunchen sat in his room, unable to sleep all night. His chest was heavy with unease, and he tried to push aside the chaotic thoughts, using work to distract himself.

The investigations into Jaeger Industries and internal fleet purges remained unresolved. He reviewed the reports several times, found a few loopholes, and contacted Zhao Minghe via comms: “Regarding the Jaeger Industries case, I’ve discovered several new leads that need overtime handling…”

Zhou Yunchen was about to order Zhao Minghe out of bed to get to work, when he saw the comm screen: Zhao Minghe and Li Mo each held a nutrition tube and a cigarette, sitting beneath hazy, smoke-filled light, surrounded by piles of paper files and digital displays.

While General Zhou was still courting, Zhao Aide had already started working overtime.

Zhou Yunchen: “… Captain Li Mo, the military will issue retroactive pay according to your consultant salary level.”

Li Mo glanced at Zhao Minghe, set down the cigarette, and nodded.

Author’s Note:

Chief Engineer Lu: Emotional processor currently offline.

 

 

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