Chapter 40: You Two Play Rough

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

#Breaking — Jaeger Industries and First Research Base’s documentaries have both been released! At the exact same time!

Post 1: Someone asks, “Wait… are they about to fight each other?”

Post 2: “After all, they’re competitors… But Jaeger Industries’ documentary should’ve come out yesterday. I was waiting last night to see their flashy, action-packed scenes, but it got delayed until today.”

Post 3: “Jaeger Industries must be afraid of Wang Chuanshan getting involved.”

Post 4: “I don’t really get what the previous poster means. I’m watching both documentaries at the same time—they’re completely different styles. Jaeger’s is full of energy and hype, First Base’s is cold and solemn.”

Post 5: “Is Chief Engineer Lu Yao really not going to show some fireworks too? Even for semi-industry insiders, the most aggressive mecha is still Lu Yao’s FL series—built purely for combat. Jaeger’s exploratory mecha can’t compare.”

Post 6: “So according to the previous comment, Jaeger and Lu Yao are in different directions. What would they even fight over?”

Post 7: “Full insider speaking: Jaeger Industries’ current chief mecha designer Jiang Wei and Lu Yao never really got along. So… you guys understand, right?”

Post 8: “I don’t believe 7. Are you saying that one hired designer can lead a giant like Jaeger Industries around by the nose? No way.”

Post 9: “But look at the other industry giants who appeared in Jaeger’s documentary. If you know this field, you’d know they don’t appear just for anyone. Jiang Wei has good relations with them, so they agreed to appear, mostly out of respect for him.”

Post 10: “Enough talking about those hair-giving-for-science old folks, let’s watch Steel Titans! The Azure Dragon Exploration Corps is appearing! Fresh far-star exploration footage!”

Post 11: “OMG! And Silver Halberd Fleet’s frontline combat footage! Distant Star!!! Flagship Ares!!!”

Post 12: “Looks like the Decatoli battle just ended. The angles look like automatic starship battlefield recordings. Wang Chuanshan somehow got access to all this footage too.”

Post 13: “I have to say, Lu Yao is truly a god. Even Zhou Yunchen, his ex-husband, is still willing to help.”

Post 14: “Their marriage was purely forced by the Central AI, no emotional foundation. Now that they’ve split, there’s no grudge. Work-related matters don’t require tension—they can still be friends and collaborators.”

Post 15: “OMG! Look, Zhou Yunchen appears!”

#ZhouLuCPIsReal

Post 1: “In Steel Titans, General Zhou went to the research base! Chief Engineer Lu Yao even tested Distant Star with him. My CP is real, no BE!”

Post 2: “I’m officially locking these two handsome guys down!”

Post 3: “Seriously? They sit in the same cockpit, barely speak… just work colleagues.”

Post 4: “General Zhou and Lu Yao both aren’t talkative—this is telepathy through silence.”

Post 5: “But with Li Yan around, Lu Yao actually answered some questions. Two introverted types together might have no future. Better ship Li Lu! Year-young little dog A with his cold and intelligent beauty O.”

Post 6: “Li Yan’s just a kid, shipping him? Let Lu Yao shine alone!”

Post 7: “??? Guys??? This thread is Zhou-Lu CP!”

Post 8: “Ughhh, they’re just bullying us in the North Pole fandom.”

Post 9: “Stop, stop. Look at the new guests in the documentary. I bet if you asked Lu Yao, he’d say this is his official pair.”

Post 10: “I want to see which little flirt it is—some unknown alpha last time? How could he compare to General Zhou… OMG, I was wrong, bowing to the Queen!”

Post 11: “Ugh, still at work. Can only browse forums, can’t watch the documentary.”

Post 12: “The newbie here is a beauty capable of making Torque Queen step aside for a concubine.”

Post 13: “???”

Post 14: [Images] [Images] [GIFs]

Post 15: “A cat! Such a huge cat! Leopard-patterned cat! CP fans, stop fighting, stop fighting. Chief Engineer Lu Yao brought this big cat out, clearly declaring him as his official partner.”

Post 16: “Looks like a snow leopard~ fluffy~ long tail~ jealous of Lu Yao.”

Post 17: “Lu Yao pulls the leash, the collar tightens, controlling the snow leopard… power and submission, so sexy…”

Post 18: “Can we even say this?”

Post 19: “Leash, collar, beast, cold and majestic beauty… save me, my brain is filled with color waste.”

Post 20: “It’s all that damn DW… if it weren’t for his bold daily remarks, who would imagine Lu Yao like this?”

Post 21: “Speaking of DW, he’s been so absent these years. I still remember his shocking speech back then.”

Post 22: “Tell me! Tell me! I came late, I don’t know!”

Post 23: “Uh… once Lu Yao gave a lecture at Morningstar Military Academy’s mecha department. The lecture hall was packed, but no one dared sit in the first two rows in front of him. At that time, Lu Yao had just become Chief Engineer, very young, still an omega, too pretty, but with a cold temper. Online comments were harsh. Students admired his knowledge but feared his cold face. During the lecture, Lu Yao had a long pointer for the screen. Every tap made some sarcastic comments call it ‘Lu Yao’s new era intimidation.’ Then, DW appeared and made a bold statement—‘I hope Lu Yao’s pointer falls on me.’”

Post 24: “???”

Post 25: “Yes. We all reacted the same way, but DW opened a new world for us. Now people rarely complain about Lu Yao’s temper; everyone is just excited. Though the general forum is tame, on some closed forums, people go crazy yelling: ‘Lu Yao stepped on me!’”

Post 26: “I always thought Lu Yao’s fans were all top tech experts. Turns out you’re all this daring! I wanna—cry, take me with you!”

Post 27 DW: “Excuse me, what are the names of those closed forums?”

Post 28: “Whoa, the person himself is here? DW wants to visit those forums?”

Zhou Yunchen was now thinking about taking down those bizarre forums. Meanwhile, employees from the Technical Intelligence Department and the documentary crew who were monitoring online discussions were sweating bullets as they read the bold forum posts. Not a single one dared relay any of this to Lu Yao.

On the starship, Lu Yao was seated with the head of the Test Department and the head of the Space and Environmental Laboratory.

“Confirm the trial site in space is clear?” he asked.

“Yes. We’re in the gamma-clearance zone. The site has been set up and preliminary tests are complete. The Azure Dragon Corps mecha squad assisting the trial will depart in eight hours.”

“Good.” Lu Yao nodded. The documentary crew gradually boarded the ship, setting up their equipment. Li Yan walked over and took the seat beside Lu Yao. He looked out the viewport. The ship was still stationed underground at the base, and the view outside was unremarkable, yet he felt a surge of excitement. “Will this ship take us to the Federation’s space trial site?”

“No,” Lu Yao replied. “We first need to reach the Star Port on New Blue Planet’s synchronous orbit, and from there transfer to a warp-capable curvature starship.”

“When do we depart?”

“Soon.”

Lu Yao’s personal AI assistant chimed in, “Reporting, Chief Engineer. Mecha loading complete: five FL03 prototype units and one TL-type mecha, totaling six mecha.”

“Received.”

“TL mecha,” Li Yan’s mind caught the keyword. “That’s General Zhou’s Distant Star… he’s coming too?”

“Yes.” Lu Yao efficiently responded while confirming final preparations with several department heads. Then he rose and walked toward the front of the cabin. Li Yan’s gaze followed him, noting that Lu Yao had taken a seat in the front row. The Space and Environmental Laboratory head kindly explained, “The front-row left seat is reserved for the Chief Engineer. He just came over to discuss work with us.”

Li Yan hesitated, unsure whether he should follow. There was still one empty seat beside Lu Yao. Though his mother, Kong Yu, had warned him to behave properly around Lu Yao, the engineer exuded a light so bright it drew the eye irresistibly.

At that moment, another figure entered Lu Yao’s glow. Zhou Yunchen, accompanied by his aide, strode through the cabin doorway in a sharp, deep-blue military uniform, looking both handsome and commanding. He paused slightly near Lu Yao’s seat, then took the empty seat beside him. His aide Zhao Minghe sat nearby.

Li Yan whispered, “Can someone sit in the seat next to Chief Engineer Lu Yao?”

The department head replied, “Normally, that seat is for the Supervising Director, but Director Mo isn’t here today, so it’s empty.”

Seeing Li Yan’s suddenly pitiful little-dog expression, the supervisor couldn’t help smiling. Zhou Yunchen asked Lu Yao if he could sit there. After receiving confirmation, he settled into the seat and handed Lu Yao a long black velvet box.

“General Zhou?” Lu Yao asked. Zhou Yunchen replied, “Zhao Minghe told me to give you a gift.”

Lu Yao remembered that a few days earlier, when he had received the psychic central unit, he had used this as an excuse to brush off Mo Feng. He wasn’t surprised that Zhao Minghe would relay the situation to Zhou Yunchen. What he didn’t expect was that Zhou Yunchen actually brought… a gift.

Lu Yao looked at the long box. Zhou Yunchen’s knuckles were strong and well-defined, without any adornment. He gripped the box tightly, and Lu Yao wondered if he used the same force when controlling a mecha.

“Should I accept it?” Lu Yao asked. Zhou Yunchen froze for a moment. The carefully maintained calm on his face flickered. He had imagined Lu Yao taking the gift quietly, or coldly refusing—but he hadn’t anticipated a third reaction. Lu Yao neither liked nor disliked it. He was waiting for the giver to reveal the sentiment behind the gift.

“I hope you’ll accept it,” Zhou Yunchen said. Lu Yao’s icy-blue eyes blinked as he took the box from Zhou Yunchen and placed it on his lap. Zhou Yunchen frowned slightly, seeming to hesitate. After a moment, he spoke again to Lu Yao: “You can open it and see.”

When facing Lu Yao, Zhou Yunchen seemed to need Lu Yao to explicitly say what he wanted; otherwise, he wouldn’t actively guess anyone’s intentions. But trying to demand or command Lu Yao was even harder—he preferred that Lu Yao live freely according to his own will. Yet therein lay the paradox: Lu Yao acting freely would only immerse himself in his own thoughts and rarely interact with others.

“Mm.” Lu Yao softly responded and opened the velvet long box. Inside were three metal rings of different sizes, all made of the same material. Their silver surfaces glimmered with a subtle blue light.

“Number 69 semi-liquid metal?” Before asking the purpose of the rings, Lu Yao immediately recognized the special material.

“Yes.” Zhou Yunchen replied.

“This metal is very expensive. It…” Lu Yao examined the smallest ring, seemingly sized like a regular ring. “It was originally used in jewelry—soft, bendable, with high memory strength. Now it’s also used to make artificial muscles for high-strength prosthetics. What is this set for?”

“It’s a set of electric collars. The ring still functions as the switch, and the collar can be worn by snow leopard.”

“And this one? An anklet?” Lu Yao pointed to the smaller collar.

“That’s for the little one,” Zhou Yunchen said. “It has no electric function and is purely decorative. The number-69 metal stretches well, so it won’t bother him.” He had prepared a collar for Torque as well.

From a distance, Li Yan vaguely caught snippets of Lu Yao and Zhou Yunchen’s conversation: words like “gift,” “ring,” “collar,” “electric shock” drifted to him. The more he heard, the more confused he became. Was this a normal gift? Especially the words “collar” and “electric shock”…

When he heard Zhou Yunchen mention a collar for the “little one,” Li Yan’s mind went completely blank. General Zhou, Chief Engineer Lu Yao… you two are playing really big!

Unable to contain his curiosity, Li Yan got up, pretending to pass by, and glanced at the contents of the box with his peripheral vision. The larger collar looked like it could fit a human neck, but the one for the “little one”…

Its inner diameter was thicker than a child’s arm, combined with the stretchable properties of number-69 metal. Li Yan’s pupils dilated. General Zhou… you really go all out…

Author’s note:

I often write that people tend to misunderstand Lu Yao—for example, he doesn’t whip or step on people, yet his face inspires such imaginations.

Hmm… guess what kind of stimulation General Zhou received this time.

 

 

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