Powerful Investment Chapter 19: The Mark

Chapter 19: The Mark

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Lu Yao seemed to have anticipated the scene and reached out to hold Ji Jin’s arm.

Ji Jin wore only a short-sleeved nightshirt in the hotel. His slightly cool arm rested in Lu Yao’s heated hand, burning him so much that he instinctively pulled back, but Lu Yao caught him.

“Come in,” Ji Jin said as he moved his wrist, withdrawing his arm from Lu Yao’s grasp.

Lu Yao quickly squeezed into the room and closed the door behind him.

Ji Jin glanced back at Ji Xingxing lying on the bed. Seeing the little baby sleeping soundly, he finally felt at ease letting Lu Yao enter deeper into the room.

“Sit down,” Ji Jin said, settling onto the soft sofa. He casually crossed his legs, revealing a foot as white and smooth as jade.

Lu Yao stared at Ji Jin’s sitting posture for a moment, then finally sat down beside him. The scent of pheromones in the room was faint, almost nonexistent, while the smell of plum wine aggressively filled the space. Before long, the entire room was permeated with a subtle plum wine aroma.

Indeed, the sensitive period was about to come. Ji Jin felt waves of pheromones rushing into his nostrils as if seducing him.

“Brother,” Lu Yao’s voice was hoarse, “You still owe me something. You clearly promised me.”

“That’s not my fault,” Ji Jin coughed and leaned back on the sofa. Though the plum wine pheromones weren’t hostile or suppressive to him, he was still an Omega and felt their effects physically. “The alliance rules forbid challenges, so I couldn’t do anything.”

He had said that if Lu Yao won a solo match, he would accompany him through the sensitive period, but since the alliance prohibited their competition, the bet became invalid.

“So what now? After all, Ji Xingxing was found by me,” Lu Yao raised an eyebrow. “Brother can’t just go back on his word, right?”

Hearing Lu Yao call him “Brother” so often made Ji Jin’s heart flutter.

Actually, when Lu Yao first joined IKW four years ago, he always called him “senior,” and Ji Jin didn’t know how it changed to “brother” later. Back then, he thought the kid was just young, so it didn’t matter what he called him. Now, it always felt that “brother” sounded kind of suggestive.

“Then let’s play a match privately,” Ji Jin said casually. “You should have brought your computer, right?”

“I did,” Lu Yao replied quickly.

Since Ji Xingxing was already asleep, Ji Jin grabbed his computer and went with Lu Yao to his room.

Lu Yao’s room was next door. The hotel rooms were mostly the same, the only difference being the slightly stronger pheromone scent in Lu Yao’s room.

After entering, Lu Yao casually sprayed some neutralizer a few times, and the scent in the room dissipated somewhat.

The professional certification number for Legend Reappearance had an online prompt. Both took out their usual practice alternate accounts. Ji Jin’s was named “Dance Witch Goddess, Here’s a Little Heart for You,” and Lu Yao’s was “Brick Man.”

“Brick Man?” Ji Jin glanced and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It turned out Lu Yao even knew his fans called him “Brick Man.”

Lu Yao didn’t know what Ji Jin was laughing at and looked at him curiously.

The two of them entered the game together and immediately added each other as friends to create a room. To keep things fair, they sat back to back, both wearing headphones. Actually, for players of their skill level, cheating was absolutely impossible; sitting back to back was just to avoid accidentally seeing each other’s screen.

During the hero selection phase, Ji Jin picked the warrior Shenfeng. Shenfeng had thick health, could tank damage and fight well, suitable for melee and solo play. Generally speaking, the jungle role was more suited for controlling the pace and accumulating economy; without economy, a jungle player wouldn’t perform spectacularly. In contrast, the warrior was more suited for player killing (pk).

Choosing the warrior showed how seriously Ji Jin took this match. After all, losing wasn’t simply losing; an Omega accompanied an Alpha through his sensitive period — and it was obvious it wouldn’t just be about covering each other with blankets and chatting.

Lu Yao chose the marksman Fengge. Fengge was currently a strong marksman, a rare hero with multiple dashes and the ability to be immune to some control skills, but his base damage was relatively low, requiring skilled operation.

But which professional player’s skills weren’t top-notch? Such a hero could be shown off brilliantly in the hands of pros.

Ji Jin guessed the reason Lu Yao chose this hero was because a marksman was good for attacking towers. Fengge dealt extra damage to towers and, with multiple dashes, could keep jungle and warrior heroes with small attack ranges at bay.

Interesting. Ji Jin smirked; Lu Yao had considered so many details just in hero selection — he really wanted to win.

The game began. Ji Jin’s Shenfeng took the lead pushing the tower and farming minions, while Lu Yao’s Fengge harassed Ji Jin from a distance. Neither touched each other at first; they only tested each other out. The marksman was relatively fragile, so in the early phase, Lu Yao definitely wouldn’t leave his tower easily.

The warrior had thick health but small skill range, so Ji Jin’s early strategy was to let the minions from both sides fight each other while he last-hit minions for economy. Since Lu Yao didn’t dare to come out, Ji Jin’s economy gradually surpassed Lu Yao’s, forcing Lu Yao to come out and clear the waves.

Without economy and equipment, no matter how skilled Lu Yao’s operation was, it wouldn’t make a difference.

Sure enough, after both minion waves were gone, Lu Yao came out from behind the tower to test Ji Jin. Both were top-tier players and had been on the same team before. Their play styles and habits were very familiar. Even though Ji Jin had left the team three years ago, it was still nearly impossible to win easily.

The two probed and tangled repeatedly. Though all the towers were gone, their kill counts were roughly equal. The battle saw gains and losses on both sides, with only a chance for victory missing.

Ji Jin and Lu Yao collided again around the minions. Ji Jin’s Shenfeng attacked first. The first skill missed, but the follow-up slash hit Lu Yao’s Fengge, dodging Fengge’s skill.

At that moment, Ji Jin suddenly felt his heart leap. A wave of weakness and numbness rushed over him, making him lose focus for a second.

In that instant, Lu Yao seized the opportunity and eliminated Ji Jin’s Shenfeng. It was already a late game, the respawn time exceeded half a minute, and only one crystal remained. Ji Jin didn’t have time to revive.

The outcome was obvious: Lu Yao won.

Ji Jin instinctively clutched his chest. The palpitations still lingered. It was the feeling of the impending heat cycle. Though he didn’t enter it immediately, there were already signs.

Since giving birth to Ji Xingxing, he had been using suppressants. Actually, Ji Jin’s heat cycles had never been very predictable. Sometimes they came again shortly after one ended. Each heat cycle was an ordeal, draining all his energy.

Maybe he should listen to the doctor and find a suitable… even just a one-night partner.

“Brother, what are you thinking about?” Lu Yao had already turned off the game and looked at Ji Jin. “What happened just now? Were you tired?”

As an opponent, he had noticed Ji Jin’s momentary freeze. Something was definitely wrong. But he really wanted to win; every cell in his body longed for the person in front of him, wanting to crush him and devour him whole.

“Nothing,” Ji Jin looked up, but the next second, Lu Yao suddenly pounced onto him on the sofa.

“Brother, are you really okay?” Lu Yao’s eyes narrowed, looking somewhat dangerous. “Or are you letting me win on purpose because you want to accompany me?”

His tone was playful but carried a dangerous edge. Without any response from Ji Jin, his breathing gradually quickened. Even now, Lu Yao could hardly believe that his God Ji would agree to accompany him through the heat cycle.

Ji Jin didn’t know what was happening to him. The young man in front of him suddenly lunged, and yet Ji Jin had no thought of pushing him away.

The scent of plum wine captured him again. Without realizing it, he raised his head slightly and sniffed the scent on Lu Yao.

“Brother!” Lu Yao’s voice became even hoarser, almost unable to speak. He suddenly lowered his head and kissed Ji Jin’s lips. The sweet strawberry scent seemed drawn out by some force, gently spreading around them, blending with the fresh plum wine aroma.

It was summer; their clothes were thin, and they could feel each other’s body heat.

Lu Yao had probably seduced him. Ji Jin looked at the young man, feeling completely weak all over. This wild and passionate kiss didn’t last long, but Lu Yao trapped him fully in his arms, nowhere to go.

“Looking at me like that… it’s just cheating.” Lu Yao’s face buried in Ji Jin’s neck, warm breath all over it, making Ji Jin itch and feel very uncomfortable.

“Stop messing around.” Ji Jin really had no way to deal with the person in front of him. He had agreed to accompany Lu Yao through the heat cycle; apparently, he couldn’t refuse kisses like this.

But if he didn’t refuse, he probably wouldn’t get back to his own room tonight.

The plum wine scent grew stronger. Lu Yao’s eyes looked a little red as he stared at Ji Jin. Then, Ji Jin suddenly felt a cool bite on his shoulder — Lu Yao lightly bit him, leaving a red mark.

Ji Jin was an Omega, and because of years of e-sports training with little sunlight, his skin was pale and delicate. A bite left a clear red mark, and his slender shoulder even seemed to invite a desire to tease.

“This is a mark,” Lu Yao said, lowering his head to gently kiss Ji Jin’s forehead. “Brother, you must remember… to keep your promise.” After saying this, Lu Yao released him and stood up, extending his hand to help Ji Jin up.

Ji Jin glanced and could clearly see a bulge down there under Lu Yao’s clothes — hard to miss. His body was very weak; he barely supported himself with the sofa as he stood, grabbed a laptop, and tried to leave.

However, as soon as he lifted the laptop, he almost fell and was completely caught in Lu Yao’s warm embrace.

“Brother, if you can’t walk, I can carry you back,” Lu Yao said with a hoarse but innocent voice and expression, which completely masked the mischief in his heart.

He remembered that Lu Yao three years ago was a pure little cutie — how had he gone bad so quickly?

But once Ji Jin thought of that night three years ago, his body still remembered it vividly.

Youthful recklessness, not knowing boundaries — even after all this time, he still shuddered at the memory of that night and someone’s careless actions.

“If Brother doesn’t speak…” Lu Yao whispered into Ji Jin’s ear with a laugh, “then I won’t be polite.”

Ji Jin was stunned. Before he could react to what Lu Yao meant, the other man lifted him up.

It wasn’t a sweet, princess-style carry, nor a straight man’s shoulder carry —

Instead, Lu Yao split his legs and directly lifted Ji Jin by his thighs. Ji Jin’s body was unstable; he could only hook his arms around Lu Yao’s shoulders and neck.

 

Author’s note:

Present-day Lu Yao: “If brother can’t walk, I can carry him back.”

Later Lu Yao: “If brother can’t ride, then I’ll do it.”

Ji Jin: “…I dare not move, I dare not move.”

 

 

 

 

 

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