Chapter 103: XXL
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
“What’s wrong?” Heinrich’s thumb gently brushed over Lin Xu’s cheekbone — smooth skin, but with firm, defined contours. “What did Colonel Chen tell you?”
Although Lin Xu hadn’t refused the Chinese rose wreath Heinrich placed on his head, standing still and silent, Heinrich sensed a quiet sadness beneath the calm surface of Lin Xu’s pale gray eyes.
Heinrich’s fingers rested near the corner of Lin Xu’s eye, where the skin felt dry, with no hint of moisture. He remembered how Lin Xu often cried involuntarily in moments of passion — tears sliding down flushed cheeks, warmed by breath, soft as winter clouds cloaked in thorny brambles. But when truly sorrowful, Lin Xu’s tears vanished completely, the dry, twisted thorns stubbornly reaching skyward, stabbing straight into Heinrich’s heart. He didn’t understand what troubled Lin Xu and wondered if he had done something wrong.
He opened his mouth to speak, but the words stuck, trapped in his throat. He didn’t want to upset Lin Xu. But he didn’t know how to say what he felt. Marshal Chu could debate icy politics with the council for hours, meticulously dissecting every Abyss Fleet battle detail, yet now found himself at a loss for words. Perhaps their long familiarity with silence had stunted his ability to express himself. All he could manage was to ask why and try to offer a solution.
“Nothing… no, wait,” Lin Xu lowered his lashes, momentarily stumbling over his own words. “He showed me a diary from a corpse found on G398. It recorded the history of the Ark Fleet.”
His willingness and ability to express emotions were no better than Heinrich’s.
“That diary… is it why Marianna was targeted for assassination?”
“Yes.” Lin Xu pulled Heinrich’s hand from his face. Their fingers intertwined as they walked along the flower-bordered path. “Chen Jinshan always knew. He even knew who ordered Marianna’s death, but he wouldn’t tell me.”
“Why not?”
“Maybe he thought knowing wouldn’t help me and would only put me in danger. Telling me the truth was his way of making me give up digging further.”
“Oh, by the way,” Lin Xu suddenly recalled Chen Jinshan’s instructions, “the guy we caught on Second Avenue is Chen Jinshan’s friend. He wants Arnold to release him quickly.”
Lin Xu had just returned to Capital Star when Chen Jinshan hastily arranged protection for him. Even when asked if Lin Xu would just charge in and kill those people, Chen Jinshan never believed he could—still seeing Lin Xu as a child needing protection.
Lin Xu had countless ways to make those targets disappear unnoticed, and others would chalk it up to accident or misfortune. The worst that could happen was investigators connecting the dots and suspecting a deliberate killer.
“What about Chen Jinshan himself? Now that he knows the killer, what’s he going to do?”
Heinrich had met Chen Jinshan only twice and knew him as a disciplined, gentle alpha officer deeply in love with his wife. Disciplined and gentle didn’t mean weak. If Chen Jinshan had transferred to the Michael system to escape, he wouldn’t have come back to Capital Star just to explain the truth to Lin Xu.
But by the end of their conversation, Chen Jinshan’s reasons for staying vague. Whatever he planned, he didn’t want Lin Xu involved. There were only two ways to avenge Marianna: kill the culprits yourself, or gather enough evidence for a court case. The latter’s chance of success was slim. Chen Jinshan’s tone suggested killing a few people wouldn’t be enough.
Lin Xu didn’t answer directly. Instead, he said thoughtfully, “Before talking to me, he sent you away. He’s wary of you.”
“Because I’m nobility too,” Heinrich guessed.
“Exactly. But he didn’t stop me from telling you the truth.”
“Because I’m no threat to the mastermind. He trusts your judgment and isn’t worried.”
“He’s just afraid of slipping up in front of you.”
Lin Xu and Heinrich pieced together Chen Jinshan’s words and subtle hints.
“He might be targeting the entire noble group.”
Lin Xu recalled a recent discussion on the Victoria about dealing with the mastermind. Ika had proposed wiping out the Marion Empire nobility in one blow: open the planet-destroyer cannon, aim at Capital Star, and boom—
If targeted assassinations were feasible but ineffective, the planet-destroyer option was effective but absolutely impossible. What else was there?
Lin Xu’s impression was that Chen Jinshan had no great power or resources in politics or the military. No army rallying at his command. Information was too limited to conclude anything.
They arrived again at the “Flute” building’s landing pad, where Chen Jinshan was waiting at the door. As Lin Xu approached, Chen Jinshan stepped forward and handed him a key-shaped chip.
“Xiao Xu, this is the key to the Flute. Marianna had prepared a room here for you, but you never got the chance to come. You can stay here anytime.”
Lin Xu silently looked at Chen Jinshan, who wore a tired but hopeful smile, trying to ease the tension and awkwardness between them. Lin Xu took the key. Before leaving, Chen Jinshan said, “If you have any problems, come to me.”
Heinrich started the ship. Lin Xu hesitated a step.
“Can you solve any problem I have?”
“As much as I can.”
When Lin Xu returned to his cabin, the hemisphere of Endymion had already fallen completely into night. Thick clouds were blown into wispy shapes, and through the gaps, faint stars twinkled.
Stepping off the craft, a cluster of delivery robots gathered before the house woke from power-saving sleep mode. In unison, they rotated their heads 180 degrees toward Lin Xu and Heinrich. Their various indicator lights flickered rapidly, and countless digital signing screens popped up in front of Lin Xu. He glanced at the piles of packages stacked on the steps. “Heinrich, did you order all this?” He remembered only ordering wood and paint supplies for house repairs.
“Yeah.” Heinrich approached the robots and signed for all the packages addressed to him. He had rarely used commercial delivery before, so his handling of the signing system was a little clumsy. “I… I asked Zhou Pingbo what we’d need living together, and he gave Arnold a list.”
Lin Xu had never thought anyone would move into his home. His supplies were all single-person quantities. If Heinrich planned to stay long-term, they definitely needed to add more. But… Why ask Zhou Pingbo? Wasn’t Zhou Pingbo also single for decades, spending his days clinging to his lab bench?
When Lin Xu unpacked a whole box of protection gear, he felt Zhou Pingbo clearly misunderstood some things about mermaids and dragons. And Heinrich probably hadn’t told Zhou Pingbo about dragons’ special traits. A thin layer of rubber wouldn’t stand a chance against the raised scales.
Neither Lin Xu nor Heinrich actually needed this stuff. The mermaid’s body differed from an ordinary ancient Earth human’s. Underneath the scales, muscles could contract under strong stimulation, opening a cavity entrance.
Heinrich had gotten stuck inside a few times; instinctively, Lin Xu grabbed and bit him, but it wasn’t something resolved by willpower—only by letting it happen. The taste of white chocolate seemed to seep through the surface membranes into the bloodstream.
The first time it happened, Lin Xu’s spasms and writhing shocked Heinrich, who apologized profusely. Once he understood what was going on, Heinrich kept silent, his handsome face full of quiet affection, cruelly treating the exploratory breach as a treasure at the end of an adventure. Lin Xu’s consciousness fluctuated between fainting and clarity. Still… Lin Xu glanced at the box labels:
“Refreshing electric current,” “Cool mint,” “Fiery spicy…” Not functional for them, but kind of an interesting experience. Lin Xu tossed a few boxes near the sofa, put the extra packages in storage, then returned to find the boxes already thrown in the trash. He looked at Heinrich, who said earnestly, “Too small. Won’t work.”
…And that was already XXL. Lin Xu was speechless and decided to drag Heinrich upstairs tonight to work on the repairs together.
StarNet Slacker Forum
— Our slogan: Inherit ancient Earth’s excellent tradition — slack off and eat popcorn!
Thread: OMG!!! I bumped into Marshal Chu downtown!!!
1L (OP): As the title says, Marshal Chu is so handsome, like insanely handsome! I feel like my estrus period came early! The real person is way hotter than any 3D hologram, help!!!
blurry distant photo.jpg
2L: The pic is so blurry… and it’s still 2D.
3L: A 2D pic doesn’t stop Marshal Chu from looking majestic! Also, can some omegas show some respect to the Imperial Sword?
4L: “Sexy” is my highest form of respect.
5L: Totally agree with the OP! Is this a new uniform Marshal Chu’s wearing? I feel like I’ve never seen it before…
6L: Marshal wears this to the council meetings. Imperial Daily updated with a HD 3D video—everyone go check it out!
7L: You don’t get it. There are plenty of photos of Marshal Chu, but hardly any in private settings, especially in uniform. Such professionalism! By the way, which council members voted to increase Abyss Fleet funding? I’ll vote for them next time.
8L: I bet Marshal Chu’s wardrobe is full of uniforms. Has anyone counted how many he has?
9L: Counting time!
Land daily uniform *3, various formal versions *3, military dress uniform *1 black, space combat suit dark *1, gray *1, white *1 (skin-tight, love it), space daily uniform *2, space uniform 2 *1 (with brass buttons), space uniform 3 *1 (tailored, shows figure, metal belt), mecha combat suit *1. These are the known types. Some differences are minor and hard to distinguish. I suspect he has even more. We should give all Abyss Fleet funding to making him new clothes.
10L: The store in the pic is a high-end tailor, right? New clothes incoming?
11L: What?! We get to see Marshal Chu’s casual wear?
12L: You’re all missing the point… you care about his wardrobe but not who’s holding Marshal Chu’s hand?
13L: Marshal Chu holding hands with anyone? Nah, you’re seeing things.
14L: Wait, I looked closely… that is holding hands…
15L: OMG… is Imperial’s top single alpha off the market now?
16L: Uh, I didn’t notice the handholding, but I did see the guy next to Marshal Chu in a suit with a tiny waist. Didn’t want to disturb all the Marshal Chu fangirls’ enthusiasm, but now’s my chance.
17L: But who is this guy? Never seen him before.
This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.
