The first communication call didn’t connect.
The second call rang once before Xia Ze’s gentle, pleasant voice came through: “Hello?”
Xia Ze remained in the same posture from his livestream, unaware that the camera wasn’t pointed at his face. Instead, it captured his feet clad in fluffy slippers his toes perfectly rounded and tinged with a faint pink. The sight made the person on the other end of the call pause.
Only when Xia Ze noticed General Qi’s throat subtly move and his eyelids lower slightly did he realize the camera wasn’t aimed at him.
Once the lens flipped around, the sudden appearance of the beautiful young man made General Qi look up. The boy’s delicate, palm-sized face held a trace of alarm, his almond-shaped eyes forming flawless curves. His dark irises glistened with moisture, lips pressed together as his entire demeanor radiated confusion.
Why the confusion?
General Qi didn’t blink, waiting for Xia Ze to repeat his question.
Facing the man on screen, Xia Ze couldn’t help but tense up. After all, just judging by the other’s height and aura, it felt like he could take on ten of Xia Ze, no, twenty!
Xia steadied his nerves and asked again, “General Qi, about that message did you send it to the wrong person?”
“No,” Qi Jing replied calmly. “It was meant for you.”
Xia Ze pieced together the underlying context. Due to the rarity of Alphas and Omegas in this world especially top-tier Alphas like General Qi they were required to leave behind offspring before major battles. Otherwise, the royal family and research institutes would bar them from deployment under the pretext of preserving elite genes, ensuring the empire had capable successors.
Thus, before the empire’s impending war, General Qi had to marry and even produce a child.
Calculating the timeline, the coordinated counterattack from the space pirates was less than a year away. Everything had to be settled soon.
But here was the problem.
He wasn’t the Omega the Alpha needed!
Xia Ze felt a pang of guilt at least, on paper, he wasn’t! Officially, he was registered as a Beta!
As General Qi watched the conflicted expression on the boy’s face, a rare flicker of self-reproach crossed his mind. But before he could dwell on it, Xia Ze spoke again.
“General Qi, but I’m a Beta.”
The exchange felt familiar.
At least, to both of them.
Three years ago, on a garbage planet overrun by space pirates.
Fifteen-year-old Xia Ze had fashioned a makeshift stretcher that he could drag alone, struggling to carry his unconscious grandfather to a temporary relief station.
Though imperial forces were supposed to arrive, remnants of the pirates still roamed, looting and killing. He had to get his grandfather to the station, where there was hot water, doctors anything to save him.
The journey was grueling. Xia Ze’s already slender shoulders bore deep gashes from the stretcher ropes, the blood stark against his white clothes.
Just as they neared the station, they encountered a band of ruthless pirates preparing to ransack it.
One of them caught sight of Xia Ze’s face and immediately lit up with greed. Forget medicine or food kidnapping this boy would fetch a fortune! Enough to live comfortably for life!
Maybe even enough to buy a clean identity!
Only then did Xia Ze realize his face mask had been lost somewhere along the way. He’d been too exhausted to notice.
The pirate raised his gun and shouted, “Don’t run, pretty thing! Who knew this dump had a top-tier Omega? Jackpot!”
The words barely left his mouth before the pirate collapsed, lifeless.
But the figure that emerged next was far more terrifying, drenched in blood, his presence oppressive, his piercing gaze locked onto Xia Ze.
Xia Ze instinctively recoiled, like a small wild animal encountering a ferocious beast.
His instincts screamed at him to flee.
Only when the man drew closer did Xia Ze realize how remarkably young and strikingly handsome he was.
“I, I’m not an Omega, I’m a Beta,” Xia Ze could only look up at the man now standing before him, his voice trembling with pitiful desperation.
No matter how exceptional a Beta was, they could never compare to the rarity of an Omegas.
He didn’t want to be sold off, didn’t want to bear children for someone else!
But the man didn’t seem to care. He only asked, “What’s your name?”
“X-Xia Ze.”
The man nodded, his wounds still bleeding. With one hand, he effortlessly lifted the boy, while the other took the stretcher from Xia Ze’s grasp, easily carrying both him and his grandfather back to the temporary relief station.
It was only after arriving that Xia Ze learned this man was Qi Jing the future successor of the Imperial Army and the empire’s most elite Alpha.
“Thank goodness General Qi was here getting treated, or we’d have been robbed by those space pirates.”
“Damn those pirates! Why haven’t they scrammed yet? The Imperial Army is already here!”
“There’s nothing we can do. The higher-ups don’t care about trash planets like ours. If it weren’t for the Qi family insisting on protecting Imperial citizens, we’d have been abandoned long ago. That’s why they only sent a small force.”
“Who would care about a wasteland like this? Nothing grows here. Only the poorest of the poor live in a place like this.”
“Yeah, the royal family already sees us as dead weight.”
“At least we have the Qi family.”
Xia Ze listened to the gossip with one ear while stealing glances at the man getting his wounds re-dressed.
His grandfather had already been taken for emergency treatment, so he could finally relax a little.
The military doctor tending to Qi Jing muttered in confusion, “This is a wound dressing, not a photoshoot. Why are you posing?”
The doctor had served the Qi family for years and saw Qi Jing as a junior, making him one of the few people who could joke with him.
Qi Jing glanced to the side, deliberately angling his most chiseled profile in that direction.
The doctor nearly laughed out loud. So that’s what this was a peacock preening.
Xia Ze, oblivious to this exchange, hurried over when his grandfather was wheeled out of the emergency room.
The nurse following behind said, “He’s old and went through quite a shock. We managed to stabilize him, but medical supplies are scarce here on this trash planet. If we’re lucky, we might get some outside aid.”
Xia Ze looked at his still-unconscious grandfather, his heart heavy, but he managed to say, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
The nurse softened at his gratitude, her voice gentle. “Find a place for your grandfather to rest. You should get some rest too.”
“If we get any medicine, I’ll let you know right away.”
Xia Ze thanked her again. At fifteen, he was trying his best to stay composed, but he still seemed like a frightened little creature.
In his previous life, the place he had lived from birth until his death at twenty had never exposed him to real artillery or ammunition.
He had never experienced war.
Taking a deep breath, Xia Ze pushed his grandfather’s mobile bed, trying to find a quieter spot in the crowded, chaotic relief station. But as soon as he started pushing, he realized it wasn’t as heavy as before.
Hadn’t it taken five or six nurses to move it earlier?
The man beside him spoke up. “That corner looks good.”
Startled, Xia Ze watched as the man effortlessly guided the bed to the corner, then somehow procured a curtain to partition off the space.
Amid the chaos of the war-torn relief station, this was as good as it got.
Qi Jing, however, seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
But he was well aware of the scarcity of resources on the garbage planet.
Xia Ze watched as the man efficiently completed the task, his eyes brimming with delight. “This is perfect. Thank you.”
Qi Jing looked down at him and smiled. “You haven’t even asked for my name yet.”
Just as Xia Ze opened his mouth to speak, Qi Jing continued, “I’m Qi Jing.”
Then, he added, “You’re a Beta, aren’t you?”
Xia Ze nodded.
Qi Jing tilted his head slightly, his gaze holding an expression Xia Ze couldn’t decipher.
Recalling the events from three years ago, Xia Ze now understood why that earlier statement had felt so familiar.
He had explained to Qi Jing before more than once that he was a Beta.
In truth, General Qi hadn’t stayed long at the temporary relief station on the garbage planet. Before his wounds had fully healed, he had left to eliminate the remaining space pirates. Soon after, news arrived that General Qi’s father had been ambushed, prompting him to rush to another planet for battle, where he even encountered the main force of the pirates.
Later, peace was restored to the garbage planet, and by some stroke of luck, his grandfather’s medicine finally arrived.
Though the war had left his grandfather’s health in steady decline, he had still managed to hold on for two more years. For that, Xia Ze was deeply grateful.
Now, three years later, as he once again explained the matter to General Qi, Xia Ze remained earnest. “I’m a Beta.”
“You should marry an Omega, shouldn’t you?”
Xia Ze assumed Qi Jing had simply forgotten his previous admission about being a Beta.
According to this world’s norms, a top-tier Alpha’s spouse would naturally be a top-tier Omega only then could they produce superior offspring and pass on their elite genes.
When Xia Ze had presented as an Omega at twelve, it was precisely this knowledge that had solidified his resolve to live as a Beta.
His grandfather had understood. On a lawless garbage planet, a strikingly beautiful Omega would be in constant danger. So, they had manipulated the registration records after all, the garbage planet’s population registry was notoriously lax.
Young Xia Ze had even cultivated plants capable of masking his pheromones, ensuring that to anyone who saw him, he was unmistakably a Beta.
He stated this with absolute conviction.
He wasn’t an Omega. He refused to bear children!
So surely, General Qi had just forgotten his earlier words?
Qi Jing’s expression remained unchanged as he replied, “I know.”
“I know you’re a Beta.”
He knew?
And yet he still wanted to marry him?
A flicker of panic rose in Xia Ze, and he instinctively prepared to refuse until General Qi lowered his gaze and said quietly, “Consider it a favor to me.”
Then, in a calm tone, Qi Jing explained a few things that left his loyal subordinates, who had just entered the room, utterly stunned.
“This marriage is just to deal with the Emperor and Empress.”
Was this something he should be saying out loud?
“They’re pressuring me. If I don’t marry, I can’t return to the battlefield.”
??? What kind of power do those two even have??? Since when?
“You understand how crucial the upcoming final battle is for me. Will you help me with this?”
“Pretend to be an Omega and marry me.”
As Qi Jing finished speaking, he shot a glance at his subordinates, who were barely suppressing their laughter. One officer even mouthed silently: “Bold-faced lie!”
Meanwhile, Xia Ze fell into deep contemplation. He knew full well how vital this battle was for General Qi.
Three years ago, General Qi’s father had been killed by the leader of the space pirates. There was no doubt Qi Jing was determined to avenge him personally.
General Qi had saved his life. If not for him back then, both Xia Ze and his grandfather would have died.
For such a life-saving debt, he owed it to him to repay the favor.
Damn the Emperor and Empress, actually using such matters to threaten General Qi.
Xia Ze’s expression shifted slightly, his gaze carrying a trace of pity when he looked at Qi Jing.
What a pitiful Alpha. Even being this strong, he still gets threatened.
Could it be that the Emperor and Empress fear General Qi’s achievements overshadowing their own authority?
Though he didn’t understand why the youth’s eyes held sympathy, Qi Jing lowered his gaze slightly and continued, “It’s just a marriage of convenience. Once the war is won, we can divorce automatically.”
“At that time, you can take half of my assets.”
“Including over a dozen properties on the main planet.”
“And the most advanced interstellar spacecraft.”
“Plus my collection of Blue Planet plant seeds.”
Blue Planet plant seeds!
Xia Ze’s eyes instantly lit up.
Well, it wasn’t just about the seeds. Even if it were just to repay a debt of gratitude, he’d still agree to this marriage!
Qi Jing’s subordinates were absolutely stunned.
To marry this man anyone across the star systems, whether noble or royal, would follow with just a crook of his finger.
Who on earth was behind that screen that needed such coaxing?
