Paranoid Alpha Chapter 62: Separation

Chapter 62: Separation

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: CaiCai

After Lu Xingye uttered his words with deep emotion, sinking into the fantasy he’d constructed and couldn’t break free from, suddenly a force pushed up from beneath him. Lyss, furious, grabbed his neck, pinning him against the headboard and flipping him to sit atop Lu Xingye’s abdomen.

Since they met, Lyss hadn’t throttled Lu Xingye’s neck again. Partly due to his reluctance and partly because he didn’t want Lu Xingye to think he disliked him. But certain individuals had become much too presumptuous. Fury flashed in Lyss’s eyes as he tightened his grip mercilessly, gradually depleting his oxygen. Surprisingly, Lu Xingye managed to smile.

Seeing this, Lyss became even more enraged, coldly questioning, “I’ll ask you one last time, did you agree to let her?”

“Of course… not.” Lu Xingye struggled to speak amidst his smile. “If… I truly was modified… I’d have you pinned down by now, listening to your pleas and cries… Mmm—”

Feeling relief, Lyss forcefully kissed him, or rather, bit him. Lu Xingye’s lip instantly split, and Lyss bit down hard, “If I hear you say these words again—”

Lu Xingye, almost suffocating, suddenly found strength from somewhere and managed to lift Lyss’s waist and kiss him back. Blood mixed with pheromones swirled between their lips and tongues. Lyss’s body heated uncontrollably, and the hand on Lu Xingye’s neck loosened.

“It was Brother who insisted on asking… and even when I tried, you weren’t willing to let me finish my words.” Lu Xingye spoke plaintively, “Those were just my thoughts at the time, not now. I’ve changed since then. I promised to behave, but Brother insisted on digging up old matters.”

“Digging up old matters?” Lyss almost laughed out of frustration. “Why not say it’s your long list of past mistakes? Regarding this, when did you plan to hide it from me?”

Lu Xingye, infuriatingly arrogant, “Although I was tempted, I didn’t agree in the end. It was an unrealized affair. There’s no need to make a fuss.”

If someone unaware of the context heard this, it would likely be recorded as a classic example of a scoundrel’s speech.

This time, Lyss was genuinely angry. His eyes and brows were icy, golden eyes filled with apparent anger, “Repeat what you just said.”

Lu Xingye couldn’t, so he started acting repentant again, “I’m sorry, Brother—”

Despite the handprint on his neck, Lu Xingye shamelessly leaned in for a kiss, provoking Lyss further. Lyss pushed away his approaching head with a slap, “Go back to your room.”

“No.” Lu Xingye was fearless, refusing to leave. “You said I could come to your room tonight, how can you chase me away?”

“You’ve heard so many words from me, why can’t you remember anything else?” Lyss, frustrated but not daring to strike, could only tug at Lu Xingye’s ear and ask, “Tell me the truth, did you get modified or not?”

“I really didn’t!” Lu Xingye was startled by the tug on his ear, “I swear, if I—”

Lyss slapped his ear, “Can’t control your mouth, huh?”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll really become a little fool.” Lu Xingye quickly begged, “Dr. Qiu asked if I wanted to try it. To be honest, I was tempted at first, but then I reconsidered. Being a short-lived ghost for your sake might be worthwhile, but what if, what if you could fall for me? Like the saying goes, the one closer to the water gets the moon. Lin Lang is our daughter. I have an innate advantage compared to others, so… I refused Dr. Qiu in the end. I didn’t agree, really.” After saying that, he gently kissed Lyss’s cheek, “Don’t be mad, okay? Brother, you throttled my neck; it hurts. Can you massage it for me?”

Lyss glanced at his reddening neck, “You deserved it.”

Although he said so, Lyss still raised his hand to massage Lu Xingye’s neck. The force was still substantial, and his expression remained stern.

Lu Xingye didn’t dare cry out in pain but watched him earnestly, “Chief, you don’t treat your daughter this harshly.”

Lyss, exasperated, covered his mouth, “Have some shame, will you?”

Since Lu Xingye’s return, Lyss was afraid of shattering this dream. He didn’t dare to scold or hit him, and was being unusually gentle. Tallying up their interactions, this was one of the few times Lu Xingye faced criticism after his return. He didn’t feel uncomfortable. Instead, he blinked and muffledly said, “I’ve probably figured out the Royal Family’s plan.”

Lyss paused and asked, “What do they want?”

Lu Xingye, with a mysterious tone, said, “If you kiss me again, I’ll… s-sorry, my bad. I’ll say it right away. Ouch, ouch, ouch, wife, let go…”

Lyss, expressionless, released his hand. “Speak.”

“The Empire has significant internal disagreements that have existed for a long time. This incident is just a spark.” Lu Xingye became slightly more serious. “The royal family holds information about past events. They are well aware that artificial intelligence is merely a façade created by humans, so they’re not concerned about the potential dangers of restarting Chudai. For them, restarting it brings only benefits and no risks. Hence, even though the technology is not mature yet, they refuse to share it with outsiders. Ultimately, they want to monopolize the benefits of restarting Chudai to maintain the royal family’s dominant position.”

Lyss furrowed her brows tightly. “So, what’s the conclusion from the last incident?”

“The royal family deliberately staged that attack to instill fear of artificial intelligence in people from other nations,” Lu Xingye’s gaze turned slightly colder. “The person who self-destructed wasn’t an artificial intelligence at all. He had no autonomy, just a body controlled by someone else.”

Similar to what Lyss suspected, Lu Xingye slowly relaxed his brows. “That’s not the missing piece. Even if they manage to simulate a functioning program with the remaining code, without subsequent maintenance, it’s just an empty shell consuming resources and manpower.”

Lu Xingye frowned. “They seem to have developed a new technology that supposedly allows the system to learn automatically once the framework is set up.”

Lyss, whose brows had just relaxed, furrowed them again. “How did you find out?”

“I gathered information indirectly.” Lu Xingye clearly didn’t want to dwell on this topic. He lightly kissed the slightly furrowed brows of Lyss. “I made some small adjustments before coming here. With their technological level, it’ll probably take three to five years to set up the framework… no rush for now.”

As he spoke, he kissed down from his brow, licking and kissing Lyss’s trembling eyelids, exhibiting the demeanor of an intoxicated ruler living in the moment.

Lyss instinctively dodged, but Lu Xingye, with cunning intent, kissed him while holding the back of his head, deliberately breaking the wound on his lip, and the blood started seeping. He hooked onto Lyss’s tongue, transferring the blood inside.

Infused with the scent of tea and the sweet metallic tang of blood, the alpha pheromone eventually took effect. It spread through Lyss’s body like an intoxicant. Though he wanted to stay rational and reprimand this reckless troublemaker who had risked his life, he found himself weakening under the overpowering allure of the pheromones.

“Let go… let go!” Lyss tried hard to convey his anger, but without the force of his strength, it was as futile as retracting a paw pad, only inviting more squeezing and teasing.

“Brother, don’t be mad at me, okay? I’ve told you everything. Really, if you don’t believe me, you can ask Dr. Qiu…” Lu Xingye was anything but honest, but his words sounded as plaintive as a puppy. “We haven’t seen each other in so many days. Don’t you miss me?”

Lyss couldn’t lie and could only pretend not to hear with half-closed eyes. After knowing each other for so long, his silence clearly couldn’t escape Lu Xingye’s gaze.

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it to mean that you agree.” Lu Xingye grinned and grabbed his tail. “Sorry for making Brother mad. I’ll apologize properly.”

“I don’t need this kind of apology!” Lyss’s pupils dilated, and he instinctively stepped back. “Keep your hands away… my estrus is coming, don’t… mmh—”

Seeing Lyss still able to talk to him, Lu Xingye, somewhat dissatisfied, deliberately bit the tip of his tongue and leaned down to kiss him.  The taste of blood mingled with tea flavor in their mouths, exploding in Lyss’s mind. It took him a while to realize what Lu Xingye had done. He was angry and heated, raising his hand to grasp the other’s jaw and forcefully push him away. “Aren’t you afraid of biting your own tongue off?!”

Lu Xingye chuckled lightly. “Do you want it? If you do, I’ll bite it off and give it to you.”

Lyss couldn’t help but shudder, partly from anger and partly from the heat.

“I love it when you’re mad at me… wifey.” Lu Xingye murmured, lips pressed into a thin line, “Just ten more days…”

Lyss’s mind went blank. It took him three seconds to realize what Lu Xingye was implying, but he had no energy left to respond. The moment before Lyss lost his composure, he heard Lu Xingye’s voice, playful and smirking. “They say absence makes the heart grow fonder… Brother.”

The night after their separation seemed too long, so long that in the following days, Lyss even felt a hint of fear about what was to come. During work breaks, he often found himself distracted, looking at the documents and considering whether he should not take leave and instead take some suppressants.

He quickly dismissed the thought. Lu Xingye knew precisely when his estrus was due, and he hadn’t experienced a normal estrus for five years. Once he was caught by him, Lyss feared he wouldn’t be able to resist.

After much hesitation, Lyss finally submitted a leave request to the council. Yet, coincidentally, on the last day before his estrus, as Lyss was finishing up work and preparing for his leave, Lillia rushed in a panic. “Chief, the Empire suddenly announced that they’ve completed the framework for the Chudai System. They’re planning to restart it the day after tomorrow!”

Author’s note:

The chief can’t leave; he’ll be spending his estrus period in the office (doge).