Lu Qiao was stunned, and goosebumps rose across his skin.
The World Core System had been discovered by the Cosmic Alliance five hundred years ago. It was a gigantic crystal, with unknown characters coursing through it. After the mysterious “Great Crystal” was discovered, the Cosmic Alliance established the C1 Star Region Administration. Fifty years later, scholars finally learned what this “Great Crystal” represented.
Combining historical records and analyzing the data stored within the World Core System, they determined that since the formation of the universe, the rules governing how the world operated had changed and been revised many times.
Sometimes it happened once every tens of thousands of years; sometimes once every few hundred years.
Every change was caused by an attack from a world virus.
And over the past two thousand years, the World Core System had been attacked by viruses twice.
In other words, something that only happened once in ten thousand, one thousand, or one hundred years had actually happened to them!
Everyone immediately began discussing it. One officer muttered, “Luckily, the changes in the ‘rules’ have never been ‘malignant’…”
“Wasn’t there one ten thousand years ago where flowers would float around whenever someone was in a bad mood? I wonder what people with pollen allergies did back then.”
“Phew, there was also one time when some men were transformed into women. They could only turn back after meeting certain conditions. That’s actually terrifying!”
After the goosebumps subsided, Lu Qiao immediately became depressed.
World viruses were not “viruses” in the literal sense that people understood them to be. They were information streams from other parallel universes.
To put it simply, when a virus invaded the system, it meant that the special “settings” of another parallel universe had somehow fragmented into information streams. After invading the system of their universe, they became the “settings” of their world.
The World Core System itself was something humanity fundamentally could not interfere with. They could only study it, so it was impossible for them to “remove the virus.”
Although a virus would automatically disappear after invading the system for a certain period of time, and the rules governing the world would consequently correct themselves, no one could determine when this would happen.
Even if the altered “rules” came with their own method of being broken—for example, the men who had been transformed into women four thousand years ago could turn back into men after meeting certain conditions—all of that was based on the virus being successfully decoded.
The scholars at the C1 Star Region Administration would need at least forty-eight hours to decode the virus.
Did that mean that before then, he and Yan Qiu could only remain stuck together like magnets?
Lu Qiao lowered his voice and turned back to ask Yan Qiu, “If we’re locked together all day, won’t there be a lot of things we can’t do?”
Unexpectedly, the man glanced at him and calmly uttered two words:
“For example?”
Lu Qiao: “???”
An elderly general suddenly spoke, pulling everyone’s thoughts back.
“The most urgent matter right now is the situation within the military!”
Hearing him bring up the matter, Yan Qiu’s adjutant immediately began reporting as well.
There was no way for Lu Qiao and the other woman to avoid hearing it, and Yan Qiu had given permission, so the two simply listened.
All regions were currently counting the number of people affected.
The military had also conducted an extremely efficient statistical analysis within the past few minutes.
The various battlefronts had indeed been affected somewhat, but the enemy forces had been affected as well. Furthermore, the soldiers had reacted extremely quickly and performed exceptionally well.
Overall, it had not caused any major problems.
The affected soldiers within the military accounted for roughly one-thirtieth of the Empire’s total military personnel. These people would soon be assigned together to avoid affecting the normal operation of the military.
Yan Qiu’s adjutant reported for quite some time, while everyone’s thoughts continued to churn.
Lu Qiao was genuinely conflicted about the current situation. Once everyone else began discussing things heatedly, he forced himself to calm down.
He remembered that, besides him, who lived there, there was also a deputy director working overtime in the training facility’s office.
The deputy director probably did not even know that he had disappeared from the bathhouse.
He asked Yan Qiu, “I didn’t bring my terminal. Can I borrow yours? I need to contact someone.”
Yan Qiu removed his wireless earpiece and handed it over. He then unlocked the terminal on his wrist and held it out to Lu Qiao.
Lu Qiao quietly said, “Thank you.”
Using Yan Qiu’s hand to operate the terminal, he dialed a number and called the deputy director.
The call was answered after several seconds.
The deputy director’s voice was cheerful.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“It’s me, Lu Qiao.”
“Lu Qiao? You…aren’t you at the training facility? Why are you calling me? And from an unfamiliar number?”
The deputy director clearly had no idea what had happened yet.
Lu Qiao said awkwardly, “Uncle, have you seen what’s happening online? A lot of people have been locked together in pairs…”
“Ah.”
The deputy director immediately came to his senses and exclaimed in surprise, “You got locked too? Where are you now?”
“I’m currently…”
Lu Qiao choked.
He obviously could not tell him that he might be on Central Star.
So he simply said, “I’m not sure where I am either. Anyway, I’m with a friend, so I just wanted to tell you that I probably won’t be able to come back tonight.”
“Oh, oh, got it, got it.”
After hearing this, the deputy director happily exclaimed, “So you got locked too, Lu Qiao!”
Hearing the excitement in his voice, Lu Qiao immediately knew something was going on.
He cautiously asked, “Uncle, you also…?”
The deputy director immediately began chuckling.
“Hehehe.”
Lu Qiao’s eyes widened.
Yan Qiu’s adjutant had just said that the affected soldiers accounted for one-thirtieth of the military’s total personnel.
Why did Lu Qiao feel that everyone around him had something going on?!
He quickly asked, “Then you’re not at the training facility either?”
“I am, I am. Cough. A friend was transferred here to me.”
Just then, Lu Qiao heard a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone.
“Whose call is it?”
The deputy director’s voice became more distant.
“One of my students.”
Lu Qiao found the woman’s voice somewhat familiar and exclaimed in surprise, “Huh? Could that voice be…?”
There was a student at the training facility whose older sister was a stunning beauty. She often came to the training facility to pick up her younger brother.
After meeting her repeatedly, the deputy director had developed feelings for her and begun a one-sided crush.
Many people at the training facility knew about it.
They simply never told the woman, lest they make things awkward for her.
The deputy director’s voice was filled with happiness and shyness.
“Yes, it’s her…”
Lu Qiao was shocked.
He had actually been locked together with the person he had a crush on.
What incredible luck!
“Wow, Uncle!” This was one of the most exciting things Lu Qiao had encountered in his life, and he excitedly moved a couple of times.
The arm that had been loosely supporting his waist tightened slightly.
“You have to stay calm!”
“How could I possibly stay calm?” The deputy director coughed twice, lowered his voice, and said proudly, “Actually…we already confessed our feelings to each other just now. She said she’s liked me for a long time too. Cough.”
Lu Qiao: “…???”
Wait.
It had only been twenty minutes since everything happened.
Were they really that decisive?
“Ah, Lu Qiao, Lu Qiao.”
The deputy director was currently basking in his happiness, his voice full of smug delight.
“Before you called me, I was looking at StarBlog too. Everyone says this situation must be because the World Core System was attacked by a virus. And quite a few people are saying that they were locked together with the person they secretly loved.”
“Do you think this might be some kind of Matchmaker Virus? Specifically locking together people who secretly love each other?”
The corner of Lu Qiao’s mouth twitched, and he laughed.
“No! I was just locked together with a friend!”
“A friend? Male or female?” the deputy director immediately asked.
Lu Qiao answered cheerfully, “Male!”
And not just any male friend.
It was a male friend he had not seen for five years. Their relationship had even become somewhat distant.
There was absolutely no connection to anything like mutual secret love.
Unexpectedly, the deputy director paused strangely before lowering his voice.
“Actually, I saw some same-sex couples being locked together online too. It was the same situation—they were secretly in love with each other. Lu Qiao, think carefully. Could you be a closeted gay man who secretly loves this male friend of yours, and neither of you realizes it?”
Lu Qiao froze, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
What the hell?
What did he mean by secretly loving Yan Qiu without realizing it?
He and Yan Qiu were absolutely impossible—
While he was arguing against the idea in his head, Lu Qiao suddenly saw Officer Yang, sitting on the left side of the conference table, secretly kiss the girl in his arms.
The girl blushed deeply and buried her face against Officer Yang’s chest.
Officer Yang held her close, looking as though he might ascend to another realm at any moment.
Lu Qiao’s expression became slightly serious.
His heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He secretly glanced toward the other side.
The officer whose dog had been locked together with another dog had made another phone call home.
He hurriedly asked whether the two dogs had gotten frisky.
“No? Good, good.”
That was right.
Although the two dogs had been stuck together all day long back then, they were old now and apparently no longer had the energy for that sort of thing.
On the phone, the deputy director was still speaking passionately.
“Look, there’s even a gay guy on StarBlog who said it himself! He was locked together with the person he secretly loved, and he couldn’t help kissing him, only to discover that the other person secretly loved him too!”
“Everyone is secretly in love with each other, Lu Qiao! You need to acknowledge yourself! Hahahaha!”
Lu Qiao: “…”
Amid the deputy director’s delighted laughter, Lu Qiao quietly stiffened his back.
Impossible.
That’s not it…
“What’s wrong?” The man behind him noticed his movement and asked calmly.
Lu Qiao shrank his neck.
“…N-Nothing.”
He had just suddenly felt that his butt was getting a little hot.
He silently moved forward a little.
The next second, the arm around his waist pulled him back.
The man spoke, his voice low.
“Sit. Don’t move around.”
Lu Qiao: “…”
There was temporarily no solution to the locking situation, and the meeting clearly could not continue.
Therefore, Yan Qiu’s adjutant announced on his behalf that the meeting was adjourned.
Everyone could go home and find their own families.
Lu Qiao knew that there was no way he could make Yan Qiu accompany him back to the third-rate star fifty thousand light-years away, which was why he had called the deputy director earlier.
Tomorrow’s problems could wait until tomorrow.
For today, he could only go with Yan Qiu first.
After the two stood up, Yan Qiu took Lu Qiao’s hand.
Lu Qiao froze again.
Yan Qiu simply said calmly, “Let’s go.”
…He was being so natural about it that Lu Qiao felt embarrassed to say anything, as though doing so would make him seem especially awkward.
They followed Yan Qiu to the platform on this floor.
The latest model of Feiying spacecraft was already parked there.
After boarding the spacecraft, Yan Qiu’s phone began ringing one call after another, and he was extremely busy.
Without needing him to give any instructions, the pilot in the driver’s seat started the spacecraft and began flying.
Lu Qiao knew that the Yan family estate was near Central Star. He had heard people talk about it back when they were students.
Although he and Yan Qiu had not attended the same school—Lu Qiao had studied military affairs at the best public school, while Yan Qiu had been a student at the Royal Academy—the Royal Academy that Yan Qiu attended was the center of gossip for all the young women in the Galactic Empire.
Some things were difficult for Lu Qiao not to know.
After becoming acquainted with Yan Qiu and the other famous figures from the Royal Academy through competitions, Yan Qiu’s good friend Ji Zhuyun had once invited Lu Qiao to visit Yan Qiu’s home.
However, Lu Qiao had been busy working part-time and declined.
At this moment, Yan Qiu received another phone call.
Lu Qiao did not know who was calling.
Suddenly, Yan Qiu glanced at him and said, “He’s right beside me.”
He then answered a couple more times before hanging up.
After that call ended, his terminal finally became quiet.
Yan Qiu took the initiative to explain, “It was Ji Zhuyun.”
Lu Qiao remembered that man and nodded.
Thinking of Ji Zhuyun reminded Lu Qiao of the account situation again, so he spoke.
“Yan Qiu, thank you for what you did two years ago. I’m fine now. You can cancel the connection between my financial account and yours.”
The lights were off inside the spacecraft. Only the lights from the aerial street lamps outside continuously flashed past.
Yan Qiu looked at Lu Qiao as warm-colored light repeatedly spilled across his face before fading away.
Lu Qiao had encountered his problems two years ago.
At that time, he had just turned twenty-two and was approaching graduation.
It was the most important period before entering the military.
After humanity entered the interstellar age, the human lifespan had gradually increased to 180 years. Between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five, the human body reached its peak in every aspect.
Therefore, a thousand years ago, the military had adjusted the enlistment age to coincide with the age at which humans reached their physical prime.
It was precisely during this crucial period that Lu Qiao developed a genetic problem.
He had developed a genetic disorder.
The root of the symptoms lay in his first-level genes.
Because of the extreme intermingling of interstellar races, every human body now carried active characteristic genes from many races.
First-level genes referred to the genetic group of the race whose traits were expressed most strongly in the human body.
They primarily determined an individual’s appearance, physique, and certain racial characteristics.
Lu Qiao’s first-level gene was the Featherwalker race gene inherited from his father.
He had naturally inherited the Featherwalker race’s relatively slender physique and delicate features.
He should also have possessed a pair of powerful wings.
However, his wings had developed slowly, and even at twenty-two, they had still not grown.
But racial genes would always undergo one complete burst of development.
The latest that this burst could occur would still be during the body’s prime.
At that time, although his appearance would not change, his physical abilities and strength should undergo certain changes.
The several genes controlling his wings should also awaken completely, right?
Unfortunately, what happened afterward was deeply ironic.
—As he approached graduation, he developed the normal symptoms that preceded a genetic breakthrough: an elevated body temperature.
—He had originally believed that after getting through that night, he would see an entirely new version of himself.
Instead, the illness dragged on intermittently for three months.
During that period, he even lost consciousness several times because of his high fever.
Such a situation was rare and generally only occurred in people with weak constitutions.
But Lu Qiao was obviously not that kind of person, so even the doctors could not figure out what was happening.
And as his body continued to weaken from the persistent fever, he learned that the genes controlling his wings had actually also developed abnormalities.
His heart sank to the bottom.
He knew that he had completely lost his chance to enter the military as an outstanding graduate.
Genetic disorders were not a rare illness.
But he had never imagined that it would happen to him.
For the past two years, he had been taking genetic stabilizers and increasing his training, but his problematic genes had never stabilized.
No matter how optimistic Lu Qiao was, he had still become depressed in the face of such circumstances.
To be precise, these two years had been the period in his life when he had become depressed the most.
At the same time, however, he knew that during his most difficult moments, he had not been alone.
His friends had come to visit him and take care of him.
Ji Zhuyun had also come to see him.
While he was unconscious, he had even learned that Yan Qiu had returned.
After waking up that time, he saw Ji Zhuyun and immediately asked, “Did Yan Qiu come?”
“Yeah. You knew?” Ji Zhuyun was clearly surprised.
“I heard his voice.” Lu Qiao smiled happily.
He had heard Yan Qiu speak beside his ear.
—“Recovering your health is the most important thing. Don’t worry about anything else. Lu Qiao, I’ll be waiting for you to come to the military.”
The man’s voice was as low as ever.
And those words instantly gave Lu Qiao renewed energy.
Still, he really had not expected Yan Qiu to return from the border.
Yan Qiu had already been in the military for three years and had risen into the ranks of the generals at an astonishing speed.
There were many battles at the border, and as the commander, he should have been extremely busy.
“Yeah, he’s very busy,” Ji Zhuyun admitted, then said teasingly, “But he specifically came back for you.”
Unfortunately, Yan Qiu had arrived in a hurry and left in a hurry.
Lu Qiao still had not gotten to see him.
He muttered about it to himself.
“Speaking of which, go check your account,” Ji Zhuyun urged.
“What?” Lu Qiao asked in confusion.
Completely bewildered, he checked the financial account linked to his terminal.
He froze.
His account had been linked to Yan Qiu’s account.
Under this arrangement, he could freely use the money in Yan Qiu’s account.
At the time, Lu Qiao did not know how to describe his feelings.
His parents had died early.
After his grandmother passed away, he had relied on a public foster-care institution.
When he turned eighteen and became an adult, he left the institution and became completely alone.
He had savings, but not much.
His fever had not yet gone down, and his genetic disorder had already appeared.
The medical expenses that followed would very likely be more than his savings could bear.
Yan Qiu had guessed it.
Lu Qiao could neither move nor speak.
At that moment, he did not even know whether he should feel touched or angry.
Then Ji Zhuyun spoke.
“I know you’re independent, and I know you don’t like owing people favors. That’s why you didn’t want me to contact that person I know and have your medical expenses waived, so I didn’t do it.”
“But Lu Qiao, you don’t have to be like this with everyone. Sometimes you can try accepting help from people who genuinely care about you.”
That usually carefree man spoke seriously.
“You know, I’ve known Yan Qiu since we were kids, and I never knew he would actually voluntarily give someone else access to his account.”
“He genuinely hopes you’ll get better soon, and he genuinely is waiting for you to go find him.”
When those words fell, Lu Qiao trembled.
He instantly remembered what he had heard from Yan Qiu while unconscious.
……
It had to be admitted that Yan Qiu’s help allowed Lu Qiao to get through the most difficult period of his life relatively smoothly.
Looking back now, all that remained in his heart toward this man’s actions was gratitude.
He and Yan Qiu had not had too many interactions, nor too few.
He had always found it difficult to define their relationship.
More often than not, they were competitors, yet they also seemed to be friends who appreciated each other.
He really had never expected that, under those circumstances, after not seeing each other for so long, Yan Qiu would still do something like this for him.
But the matter had already passed, and it was not convenient for their accounts to remain linked forever.
After listening to Lu Qiao, Yan Qiu paused before answering.
“Mm. I understand.”
Lu Qiao breathed a sigh of relief.
His gaze followed an airborne delivery motorcycle flashing past outside the window.
Yan Qiu noticed and asked, “Haven’t you eaten yet?”
“No…” Lu Qiao rubbed his stomach sheepishly.
Yan Qiu asked him again, “Have you been eating properly these past few years?”
Lu Qiao froze for a moment.
He pressed his lips together and said, “Yes.”
Although he could not afford anything extravagant and almost always relied on nutritional supplements, and although he sometimes forgot the time because of training, he always made up for it afterward.
Three meals a day.
He had not missed a single one.
Lu Qiao looked at Yan Qiu and murmured in a slightly hoarse voice, “I remembered what you said. I’ve been working hard to recover. The weight I lost back then came back pretty quickly.”
Hearing this, Yan Qiu’s lips curved slightly, revealing a smile.
This was the first smile Yan Qiu had shown since they met earlier.
In an instant, Lu Qiao suddenly felt as though the five years between them did not exist.
Even after five years, this man had not changed at all.
Yan Qiu spoke quietly, his voice carrying a trace of amusement.
“Mm. That’s true. You’re definitely not any lighter when I hold you.”
Lu Qiao lowered his head and muttered, “Exactly.”
After saying it, he suddenly sensed something was wrong and turned his head toward Yan Qiu.
At that moment, the spacecraft descended and landed in the center of the Yan family estate.
Yan Qiu chuckled softly, took Lu Qiao’s hand, and opened the spacecraft hatch.
“Let’s go. Come home with me.”