Chapter 4: The Allied Forces (Part 1)
Iskan Capital Planet.
Inside the Emperor’s office within the royal palace, the golden-haired Iskan Emperor, Aphrodite, was leisurely teasing two small birds inside a cage while enjoying the sight of his Marshal dealing with the group of humans in the video conference.
“The appearance of Jin Chi’an’s name on the joint army roster—does the Empire not intend to give me a reasonable explanation?”
Felix crossed his legs and coldly examined the several Imperial officials displayed on the optical screen.
Facing his dissatisfied gaze, the leading royal minister replied unhurriedly:
“Marshal Felix, you certainly have the right to raise objections regarding the Empire’s personnel assigned to the joint army. If you believe this individual’s identity is suspicious or poses a high-level risk, we can redraw the roster.”
The other side’s deliberate act of pretending not to understand instantly irritated Felix.
Grinding his teeth, he snapped:
“What the Empire is doing now clearly violates the original agreement.”
“Marshal, perhaps you misunderstand. The original agreement only stated that the Empire would not interfere with Sir’s own decisions. This was entirely Sir’s intention.”
Felix narrowed his eyes, staring at the smiling Imperial humans playing verbal games with him. His anger surged instantly, and he directly cut off the video conference.
“They’re originally active military personnel under the Empire anyway. Calling it a political marriage is just letting him get married during work breaks.”
Aphrodite glanced at the now-dark screen with obvious schadenfreude.
Felix silently watched as one of the birds entered the Emperor’s mouth before speaking coldly:
“The Empire really doesn’t respect you at all. This so-called joint army is nothing more than using beastmen as weapons. Sending over a human for political marriage and using this method to restrain me… they really managed to think of that.”
Aphrodite neither agreed nor denied it, casually smacking his lips.
“So what? At least the conditions they offered were pretty generous. Besides, weren’t you also quite interested in the human they sent over, Felix?”
“I am interested.”
Felix’s face darkened.
“But his actions don’t look like someone concerned about the interests of both nations.”
Sharp beast claws emerged unconsciously and tore through the palace sofa.
Aphrodite immediately understood his meaning. Delighted at the unfolding drama, he smiled maliciously.
“Felix, primitive beasts are naturally very fickle. And Iskan doesn’t follow the Empire’s monogamy system.”
Meeting the Emperor’s teasing gaze, Felix walked over and effortlessly strangled the other bird inside the cage before stuffing it directly into Aphrodite’s mouth.
Aphrodite swallowed smoothly, consuming the last remaining bird in the palace whole. His eyes then met the murderous glare of his Marshal.
The Emperor’s pupils narrowed vertically as golden scales surfaced around his eyes. Smiling kindly, he said:
“I heard there’s a kind of free-range bird in Empire Sector Fourteen with especially tender meat. Bring me some next time you return.”
Felix shot him an impatient glance before leaving the conference room, which was thoroughly soaked with the Emperor’s poisonous saliva scent.
After Felix departed, a gigantic golden king cobra coiled lazily atop the sofa clawed apart moments earlier, flicking its tongue slowly.
A holographic video transmitted from the Interstellar Free Zone appeared from the optical device.
Inside the footage, a juvenile white tiger currently in manic period was launching indiscriminate attacks.
Even after several tranquilizer shots, it still remained violently aggressive, pinning a tabby kitten beneath its paws.
“What should we do, Director? Tranquilizers don’t work on beastmen during manic periods!”
A human staff member in work uniform nervously pointed a gun toward the white tiger while anxiously speaking to the man beside him.
The man cautiously stepped forward two paces before immediately retreating from the tiger’s roar.
“Has Xiao Jin arrived yet?”
Before the man in the video finished speaking, a familiar face appeared in frame.
Seeing the still somewhat youthful Jin Chi’an, Aphrodite suddenly straightened the upper half of his snake body with great interest, spreading his flattened cobra hood.
“Which little tiger skipped lunch again today?”
Holding a bowl of bison meat mixed with berries, Jin Chi’an walked defenselessly toward the white tiger currently baring its fangs at him.
The moment he set the bowl down, the back of his hand was scratched by the tiger’s paw.
Yet Jin Chi’an completely ignored the slowly bleeding wound.
Despite the tiger’s resistance, he casually rubbed its fluffy head before seizing the chance to pull out the nearly dying tabby kitten and hand it to the staff behind him.
Realizing its prey had escaped, the white tiger instantly exploded in fury and lunged toward Jin Chi’an.
But Jin Chi’an merely narrowed his eyes slightly.
Without even seeming to do anything, the white tiger collapsed straight onto the ground.
After gently rubbing the fluffy fur around its neck, the once-violent tiger unexpectedly became obedient, even exposing its belly coquettishly.
Carefully retracting the barbs on its tongue, it softly licked the back of Jin Chi’an’s hand.
“That’s the ability of Imperial human guides. Once beastmen receive guidance, they develop spiritual dependence.”
At some point, the palace window behind the cobra had already swung open wide.
A man with long white hair sat on the windowsill.
Before Aphrodite even had time to turn around, a hand was already gripping the back of his neck.
The white-haired man leaned close to his left eye with a smiling expression.
“Only a few days apart, and you already ate all the birds I raised?”
Inside the Empire Joint Army battleship, a guide dressed in black military uniform stared speechlessly at the perfectly lined-up formation before him and twitched the corner of his mouth.
Then he looked toward Jin Chi’an standing in the front row.
Lin Chuan painfully forced out a smile.
“Jin Chi’an… didn’t you get married?”
As fellow students from Loivette Academy, Lin Chuan had always disliked Jin Chi’an.
Besides constantly competing with him for first place, Jin Chi’an always maintained a calm and composed expression no matter how much he was provoked, leaving Lin Chuan with the frustrating feeling of punching cotton with an iron fist.
While still drowning in his painful memories, Lin Chuan suddenly felt something rubbing against his leg.
Lowering his head, he discovered it was Puff—the spiritual body of his hated rival, Jin Chi’an.
“JIN CHI’AN!”
Lin Chuan let out a shrill scream.
“Long time no see, Lin Chuan.”
Jin Chi’an tilted his head and smiled innocently.
“Jin Chi’an, put away your spiritual body,” Lin Chuan said through gritted teeth.
“He ran out by himself. Maybe he sensed your creamy spiritual power.”
Ignoring the other party’s tense body, Jin Chi’an asked in confusion:
“It’s been so long since we met. Why not let your little golden hamster out to catch up too?”
Recalling their early academy days, Lin Chuan had once shared the same dormitory with Jin Chi’an. Even knowing full well that spiritual bodies shared sensations with their owners, Jin Chi’an still tacitly allowed his Maine Coon to bully Lin Chuan’s little golden hamster. Every time he remembered it, Lin Chuan felt chills run down his spine.
“I’m the commander now. I order you to put away your spiritual body.”
Jin Chi’an curled his lips slightly and stuffed Puff back into his spiritual sea of consciousness. When he looked toward Lin Chuan again, the other party still appeared extremely guarded, making him unable to hold back a laugh.
“Weren’t you sent off to marry that beastman Marshal?” Lin Chuan questioned with an interrogative expression, though his eyes kept dodging and didn’t dare meet Jin Chi’an’s directly. “Then what are you doing here today?”
“I got married, not unemployed.” Jin Chi’an teased lightly. “Besides, this was Teacher Amelie’s arrangement.”
“I don’t care who sent you.” Lin Chuan raised his chin arrogantly. “I’m the guide commander for this mission. Someone like you, who has zero combat experience after getting married, had better obediently listen to me.”
“Sure.”
Hearing such a straightforward response without even the slightest hesitation, Lin Chuan choked again. In the end, he simply gave up arguing and instead put on the posture of a commander while checking attendance for the Imperial guide squad heading toward the Joint Army Headquarters established overnight on the border planet between the two nations.
The argument between the two earlier had been fully witnessed by the guides behind them. Some guides from regional academies curiously asked others nearby about their relationship.
“You’re not from Loivette Academy, right? Those two have never gotten along since their junior years. Well… more accurately, it’s Commander Lin’s one-sided hostility. After all, Senior Jin was always the top guide in their year.”
“So impressive? Then why haven’t I heard of him in the guide military department?”
“That’s because all the missions Senior Jin handled were directly under the Imperial royal family. Recently, he was even sent off for a political marriage with Iskan’s beastman Marshal. Though besides Loivette Academy, not many people know about it.”
“Political marriage? With a beastman?”
The regional academy guides silently marveled at the acceptance level of those monsters from Loivette Academy. Imagining sharp beast fangs and chaotic marriage customs, they unconsciously swallowed nervously.
After several interstellar jumps, the battleship finally arrived half an hour later at the newly established Joint Army Headquarters.
Following behind the Imperial sentinel troops, Lin Chuan led the guide division off the warship.
At the entrance of the base, Felix stood waiting with the beastmen who had already arranged everything in advance.
After the commanders of both sides exchanged a few words, the Empire’s military forces entered the headquarters base in orderly fashion.
While passing through the entrance, Jin Chi’an raised his eyes toward Felix standing nearby, yet failed to receive even the slightest response from the other party’s gaze.
Instead, Edwin beside him smiled brightly and mouthed silently toward him:
“Hello, brother-in-law.”
After entering the assigned guide resting area, Jin Chi’an was still feeling dissatisfied over being ignored just now when Lin Chuan suddenly erupted loudly nearby.
Standing before the screen displaying dormitory assignments, Lin Chuan confronted the Imperial Commander through holographic communication.
“I’m the commander of the guide division! Why the hell should I share a room with this guy?!”
At this moment, the Imperial Commander Leon, currently walking side by side with Felix, shot Felix a pleading look for help.
Seeing no reaction from him, Leon could only brace himself and explain awkwardly:
“This is a standard double-room assignment generated by the system.”
“What kind of bullshit—”
Before Lin Chuan could finish, the communication was abruptly disconnected from the other side.
Meanwhile, Jin Chi’an had already walked to his side and looked at the identical dormitory number displayed beside both their names.
Recalling his earlier communication with Teacher Amelie several days ago, after confirming he would participate in the mission, she had sighed in relief and said:
“The supreme commander of this joint army operation is Marshal Felix. The Imperial military department has already agreed to arrange for the two of you to stay together. This also conveniently fulfills the royal family’s commission.”
“JIN CHI’AN!”
Lin Chuan’s powerless rage snapped him back to reality.
Grabbing Jin Chi’an by the collar, Lin Chuan shouted:
“Paired sentinels and guides are all assigned to separate sectors! So why the hell is a married guide like you staying with me?!”
This time, Jin Chi’an no longer joked around with him like before.
The pressure around him instantly dropped frighteningly low. With a cold face, he curled his lips slightly and mocked:
“Exactly as you can see. Our married life isn’t harmonious.”
