Early Saturday morning, Lu Qiao and Yan Qiu set off for the C1 Star Region Administration.
The C1 Star Region Administration was located at the boundary between the Galactic Empire and another star nation. In the past, the trip had taken six or seven hours.
While they were still some distance away, Lu Qiao spotted a silver metal sphere in the distant starry sky.
It was an artificial research station. The world core system and everyone from the C1 Star Region Administration were all inside this research station.
The entry procedure wasn’t particularly complicated. Yan Qiu’s data had already been entered into the research station’s system. A blue light simply swept over Yan Qiu from head to toe, and he and Lu Qiao were allowed inside.
The research station had a total of forty floors, but the middle was hollow, with a gigantic diamond-shaped crystal floating in the center.
The first time Lu Qiao saw the true form of the world core system, he was completely stunned.
The crystal had a faint blue tint and was incredibly pure. Under the lights of the research station, it reflected dazzling rays of light.
On the surface—or perhaps inside—the crystal, countless white characters that Lu Qiao could neither make out nor understand would occasionally flash past.
Several hovering vehicles were suspended beside the crystal. Researchers sat inside with computers, constantly using cameras to capture the characters that flashed across the crystal, recording and studying them on their computers.
“Are those characters the data recorded in the world core system?” Lu Qiao asked quietly.
“Mm,” Yan Qiu said. “They’re a type of unfamiliar writing. Researchers spent a full fifty years trying to decipher it.”
Lu Qiao remembered that it had indeed taken fifty years from the discovery of this enormous crystal to the public announcement of what it represented.
This unfamiliar writing was the writing that the world itself possessed at the beginning of the universe’s birth. In another sense, it was much like program code.
Deciphering this writing meant there was a chance of deciphering the essence of the world itself.
As an outsider, Lu Qiao felt excited just thinking about such a thing, let alone the researchers. Their single-minded dedication, forgetting sleep and food, was completely understandable.
Soon, a person in a white lab coat and glasses, apparently the person in charge, came over and asked Lu Qiao to go with him to complete some paperwork so that the person responsible for the Galactic Empire could officially be changed.
Lu Qiao originally wanted Yan Qiu to wander around on his own. He could handle this kind of thing himself.
But Yan Qiu wanted to come along, so the two of them went together.
As they walked, Lu Qiao kept staring at the world core system, feeling a subtle, indescribable sensation in his heart.
“Pretty amazing, right?” Seeing Lu Qiao’s expression, the person in charge joked, “Almost everyone who comes in here ends up staring at the system for an hour or two before they can finally pull themselves together.”
Lu Qiao coughed lightly, a little embarrassed.
“By the way, your Second Imperial Prince is here today too,” the person in charge said, remembering the matter. “He arrived half an hour before you, together with his guard.”
Lu Qiao and Yan Qiu stopped in their tracks at the same time.
After falling a step behind the person in charge, Lu Qiao secretly asked Yan Qiu, “What did he come here for?”
Yan Qiu narrowed his eyes slightly.
“The other general in the Empire responsible for C1 Star Region Administration affairs is Luo Yu’s maternal grandfather. Occasionally, he’ll have Luo Yu come over to help him handle matters here.”
There were currently four princes in the imperial family, but they were not all born to the same empress.
The emperor’s current wife was his third wife, and she had only given birth to the Fourth Prince.
The First Prince and Second Prince were both born to the former empress, while the Third Prince was born to the second empress.
Seeing Lu Qiao deep in thought, Yan Qiu said, “Luo Yu has been introverted since childhood, and his health is somewhat weak as well, so that general has always been especially fond of him. Compared with the First Prince, Luo Yu isn’t particularly valued. That general has always intended to have him participate in more important affairs.”
Lu Qiao understood and nodded.
Then Yan Qiu seemed to remember something else and said, “Ji Zhuyun is working under Luo Yu now.”
Lu Qiao was stunned and still didn’t quite understand.
“Luo Yu? Luo Yu isn’t in charge of any legion, is he?”
Yan Qiu said softly, “After the adjutant assessment ended, he applied to leave the legion and become Luo Yu’s guard.”
Lu Qiao was dumbfounded.
Become Luo Yu’s guard?
“Wait,” Lu Qiao grabbed Yan Qiu and asked in astonishment, “When he first joined the military, didn’t he also want to develop within the legion like you did, and eventually become a general or a marshal?”
Ji Zhuyun was an ambitious person. But becoming an imperial prince’s guard meant his future path would be completely different.
Yan Qiu was silent for a second before finally saying, “It was a choice he made himself. He must have thought it through.”
Lu Qiao still couldn’t quite process it.
But just as Yan Qiu had said, Ji Zhuyun had made his own choice. What could an outsider say?
After following the person in charge through the research station and finishing the necessary procedures, Lu Qiao came out and saw Luo Yu and Ji Zhuyun.
Ji Zhuyun was no longer wearing a military uniform. Instead, he wore the distinctive white uniform of a royal guard.
He followed behind Luo Yu. When he saw Yan Qiu and Lu Qiao, he smiled at them, his expression as bright and easygoing as ever.
Luo Yu glanced at them. When he saw Lu Qiao, he seemed to want to say something, but he appeared somewhat concerned about Ji Zhuyun behind him.
In the end, he pressed his lips together and said nothing.
He turned around and strode off in another direction.
Ji Zhuyun immediately followed.
Luo Yu seemed to want to shake him off and sped up even more.
But what kind of physical abilities did Ji Zhuyun have? How could he possibly be shaken off so easily?
Naturally, he followed closely the entire way.
Lu Qiao turned his head and silently looked at Yan Qiu.
They were in this kind of relationship???
Yan Qiu rubbed his head and nodded.
However, he added, “Luo Yu’s situation is somewhat special. It’s still uncertain between them.”
Lu Qiao lowered his voice, astonished.
“The thing is, does Luo Yu really have feelings for Ji Zhuyun? If he does, then why did he… that night at the banquet…”
Why had he tried to flirt with him???
“It’s still unclear for now.”
Yan Qiu watched Luo Yu’s back, frowning slightly.
Lu Qiao simply couldn’t understand Luo Yu as a person.
But regardless of what was going on between Luo Yu and Ji Zhuyun, after the two of them finished handling their affairs, they left the C1 Star Region Administration.
Remembering that Yan Qiu had made arrangements, Lu Qiao asked expectantly, “Where are we going now?”
Yan Qiu smiled and took his hand.
“Just follow me.”
The aircraft traveled onward, arriving at an azure-blue planet two hours later.
Lu Qiao was bursting with excitement. He pressed himself against the window and kept saying, “Wow, it’s all ocean!” “It’s so blue and beautiful!” “There’s a whale!”
In the end, Yan Qiu pulled him away from the window, and the aircraft landed on an island.
The island was very small. A ring of pure-white beach surrounded its edges, while there was a glass house in the middle.
Behind the glass house was a small patch of forest. It wasn’t large, and there didn’t seem to be any snakes, insects, rats, or ants around. It had a very fresh, clean, peaceful feel to it.
It happened to be evening.
The afterglow of the setting sun spread across the entire sky, while little glowing balls of light hung from the branches in the forest, making the whole place look especially beautiful.
Lu Qiao had never been anywhere like this before.
It was way too romantic!
Yan Qiu led him off the aircraft by the hand.
The moment Lu Qiao stepped down, he took off his shoes and walked barefoot across the sand.
“Wow, it’s so warm!”
A wave rolled in.
Lu Qiao reflexively jumped, like a little rabbit.
The starlight restaurant Yan Qiu had taken him to before had a beach, but that beach was artificial, and there hadn’t even been any actual ocean.
It wasn’t nearly as beautiful as this place.
Yan Qiu watched him with amusement as Lu Qiao excitedly made his way into the glass house.
The glass house was spacious and spotless.
Only the bedroom had walls. The living room was surrounded by glass windows, allowing them to clearly see the scenery in both the front and back.
The air conditioning was already running inside, keeping the temperature comfortable.
Ingredients had also already been prepared in the kitchen.
Yan Qiu had probably given instructions ahead of time, because there was an incredibly abundant selection.
Most importantly—
There were bamboo shoots!!
Lu Qiao turned around and stared at Yan Qiu with sparkling eyes.
The man came over and stood close against him, wrapping an arm around his waist.
“Will you make me bamboo shoots?”
“Sure.”
Lu Qiao hugged Yan Qiu back and smiled happily.
“You went to all this trouble. I really like it here!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Yan Qiu held him, gently stroking his head and back, his voice tender.
Lu Qiao asked, “It must be pretty expensive to stay here for one night, right?”
Yan Qiu let him go and raised an eyebrow.
This guy had always disliked Lu Qiao bringing up questions about money.
But Lu Qiao had already gotten over that.
“I’m not trying to keep score with you. Anyway, our accounts are connected. Your money is mine, and my money is yours. It’s joint property! I was just asking casually. I’m ignorant, okay? I just wanted to broaden my horizons!”
Yan Qiu laughed and pinched his cheek.
“As long as you understand. If you want to know how much it cost, check the account. And besides, it’s called ‘marital joint property.’”
Lu Qiao: “!!”
His skin wasn’t nearly that thick!
Lu Qiao ran to the kitchen, his face bright red.
Lu Qiao’s cooking couldn’t exactly be called amazing, but what he made still tasted pretty good.
The sunset slowly sank.
Lu Qiao wore an apron while preparing dinner, with Yan Qiu helping him.
His knife skills were actually quite good.
Whenever Yan Qiu finished whatever task he was doing, he would come up from behind and hug Lu Qiao, chatting with him.
Sometimes Lu Qiao would turn around, and the two of them would kiss for a while before continuing.
By six o’clock Galactic Standard Time, three dishes and a soup had been brought to the table, along with a six-inch cake.
It was a mille-crepe cake.
And unbelievably, it was Lu Qiao’s favorite kind—mango mille-crepe.
Several pieces of mango and large, bright-red strawberries were arranged on top.
The cake was something Yan Qiu had taken out of the refrigerator.
Lu Qiao received another wave of surprise.
The ingredients had all been sitting out on the kitchen counter earlier, and Yan Qiu had only taken one glance inside the refrigerator. Lu Qiao had never looked in there at all, so he had no idea there was another present hidden inside.
He was so touched he could practically die.
He completely couldn’t imagine how this man had come up with so many tricks!
Yan Qiu placed candles into the cake and then used a voice command to turn off the lights.
The afterglow of the sunset streamed through the glass windows.
At the dining table beside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the candlelight shimmered with an orange glow.
Lu Qiao could hear the sound of the waves beside his ears.
Sitting across from him was the most handsome man in the world.
The man said to him in a low, gentle voice, “Happy birthday. Make a wish, Qiao Qiao.”
Lu Qiao’s lips curved upward as he closed his eyes and made his wish.
He hoped for world peace.
He hoped that he and Yan Qiu could live together until they were 180 years old.
And on the final day of their lives, they would leave this world together.
When he opened his eyes, Yan Qiu was looking at him with a smile, waiting for him to blow out the candles.
Lu Qiao blinked and said, “I love you.”
Yan Qiu froze.
This was the first time Lu Qiao had said those three words out loud since they had gotten together.
Lu Qiao didn’t mind saying it again.
After all, Yan Qiu had already told him several times, while Lu Qiao had been too shy to say it even once.
He said seriously again, “I love you, Yan Qiu.”
Yan Qiu’s eyes darkened.
In a hoarse voice, he said, “I love you too.”
After dinner, and after finishing half the cake, the two of them leaned against each other on the sofa.
The sofa faced the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It was already past seven, and night had long since fallen.
Outside the windows, the starry sky was brilliant, and they could even clearly see the Milky Way.
They looked at the scenery and chatted.
When it reached eight o’clock, Yan Qiu asked him, “Do you want to go to bed?”
Lu Qiao looked at him, then lowered his head.
Yan Qiu pinched his earlobe.
“What’s wrong?”
Lu Qiao’s face reddened.
Suddenly, he reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and sneakily stuffed it into Yan Qiu’s hand.
Yan Qiu couldn’t see what it was, but the moment he touched it, he froze.
Lu Qiao was really embarrassed.
His heart was pounding.
But he had already decided on this before coming here.
He really, really liked Yan Qiu.
He liked him so much.
Honestly, after watching the video Aili had sent him, he had indeed been a tiny bit scared.
But after Yan Qiu had comforted him, what he felt even more was anticipation.
It was really strange.
This was clearly his first relationship. He was easily embarrassed about everything.
And yet, at the same time, deep down, he wanted to become closer to Yan Qiu.
Closer, and closer still.
Love really did make people greedy.
Greedy enough to want to possess everything about the person they loved.
Lu Qiao leaned close to Yan Qiu’s ear and whispered, “You prepared a present for me, and I have something I want to give you too. Do you want it?”
Yan Qiu’s breath caught.