This was absolutely the journey during which Lu Qiao was in the best spirits.
Usually, on a five- or six-hour trip, he would doze off along the way. But today, how could he possibly have the mind to sleep? His entire heart was floating around Yan Qiu. One moment he was panicking, the next he was calm; one moment he was excited, and the next he was telling himself to stay calm.
By the time they arrived at the training center, Lu Qiao was already exhausted both physically and mentally.
He thought about it for a while, opening his terminal several times only to close it again. In the end, feeling rather aggrieved, he sent Yan Qiu a message:
“…I’m here.”
…Thinking back to all the things Yan Qiu had done for him, he really couldn’t bring himself to throw a proper tantrum at Yan Qiu!
In the end, he had slapped himself in the face again. Just as Yan Qiu had said, there was no way he could actually ignore him…
And the man quickly replied:
“Okay.”
Lu Qiao pursed his lips, feeling as though he could already imagine the way the man would curl his lips into a smile. Immediately, heat surged up again, leaving him both embarrassed and flustered.
He shook his head, shaking the fantasy out of his mind, then dragged his small suitcase into the training center.
Along the way, the trainees greeted him whenever they saw him. When he reached the largest classroom, he discovered that Ellie and Chris had returned today, and the deputy director had even brought his girlfriend along!
Everyone gathered around the two of them to offer their congratulations, and the atmosphere seemed quite festive. Lu Qiao walked in and asked the director curiously, “What happened?”
The director turned around when he saw him.
“You’re back, Lu Qiao. Those two are getting married.”
Lu Qiao was shocked.
“That fast?!”
These two had only gotten together on the day they were locked together, right? It hadn’t even been a month, and they were already getting married?!
“Being locked together every day, who could withstand all that temptation?” the director exclaimed knowingly, giving a very suggestive “tsk, tsk.” His tone was extremely lecherous. “There are already several couples I know who ended up just like them.”
He suddenly looked at Lu Qiao and gave him a mischievous grin.
“Heh heh. You’d better be careful too…”
Lu Qiao stiffened.
“…”
Ellie and Chris had escaped here today. Ever since they had been sent to the military headquarters and handed over to a new trainer, they had been living a hellish life, enduring inhuman torture every single day.
Before, they had constantly complained about this training center, but how could they possibly complain about it now?! To them, the training center was practically as warm and welcoming as home!
Therefore, today, they had skipped training!
At this moment, they were standing in front of Lu Qiao. Upon hearing the conversation between Lu Qiao and the director, they turned their heads to look at them.
The two children looked at Lu Qiao with the same hostility as always, but now there was also a hint of sourness in their eyes.
Normally, Lu Qiao would have immediately shot them a righteous look back—What are you looking at? What does it have to do with me that you worship Yan Qiu? It’s not like Yan Qiu and I have that kind of relationship.
But today, he felt guilty.
Extremely guilty.
So he awkwardly avoided their eyes.
Ellie and Chris immediately widened their eyes!
Ellie said in shock, “Why did you look away? Why do you suddenly look so punchable?”
Lu Qiao choked.
“I did not!”
“You did!” Chris glared at him as well. “You obviously looked away just now! What are you feeling guilty about?”
“Huh? Qiao Qiao is feeling guilty?” The director joined in on the fun, coming over to tease him. “Don’t tell me something happened too?”
Having been poked right in the truth, Lu Qiao’s feathers practically stood on end.
“I said nothing happened!”
The deputy director saw Lu Qiao and smiled broadly.
“Oh, Lu Qiao. I told you before that people who get locked together are secretly in love with each other. Still no news on your end? Your efficiency is way too low, isn’t it?”
Seeing that the other trainees were about to start joining in, Lu Qiao turned around and fled with his suitcase.
What?!
What the hell?!
Ahhhhhhh!
Lu Qiao was about to go crazy!
He ran all the way back to his room, panting heavily, and angrily threw his suitcase onto the floor.
After sitting beside the bed for a while, he opened the suitcase and stared expressionlessly at the half-finished sweater inside.
Because he would soon be returning to the Yan family again, Lu Qiao had left most of his clothes at the estate and brought an empty suitcase back with him, planning to pack the rest of his things into it that evening. He had kept this sweater with him so that he could finish it as quickly as possible.
…But at this moment, he genuinely had the urge to destroy it.
But—
After staring at it for a long time, he ultimately silently smoothed the sweater out with great care and left it inside the suitcase.
It was rare for him to give Yan Qiu a gift. No matter what, he couldn’t give up halfway…
Besides, Yan Qiu really wanted a sweater made by him!
Sigh. He couldn’t refuse to fulfill this little wish of that man.
Lu Qiao tidied himself up with complicated feelings and walked out of the room, where he ran into the director, who had specifically come looking for him.
The director was already completely serious now.
“I heard from Luo Ye and Yan Qiu. You’ve already broken through to the third-level gene, right?”
“Yeah!” The moment this matter was brought up, Lu Qiao’s spirits immediately lifted.
“That’s good.” The director rubbed his chin. “Looking at it this way, your previous condition really was related to the Consciousness Tribe gene.”
It was extremely rare for a third-level gene to have such a huge influence, but if that third-level gene was a Consciousness Tribe gene, then everything made sense. After all, consciousness power had always been mysterious.
Having taken Lu Qiao in for two years and trained him for two years, the director was now genuinely happy to see that Lu Qiao had finally resolved his physical problems.
He patted Lu Qiao on the shoulder.
“Come on. Let’s do some training.”
As it happened, Ellie and Chris were there too. They had originally been the two strongest people in the training center besides the director and Lu Qiao. After being put through the wringer by their new trainer, they should have become even stronger.
The director said, “Chris, you and Lu Qiao give it a try.”
Chris’s face twisted in despair.
He and his sister had finally managed to come back to the training center for a rare visit. They had only wanted to steal a little free time in the middle of their busy lives, and now they still had to get beaten up?!
Although the two of them looked down on everyone else, they respected the director immensely. Therefore, Chris couldn’t very well refuse the director’s request. In the end, he went up reluctantly.
Inside the classroom, quite a few trainees gathered around to watch.
Chris stretched his muscles while sizing up Lu Qiao.
Come to think of it, he had learned quite a few combat skills during this period. Maybe he really was already stronger than Lu Qiao?
With that thought, a little confidence suddenly welled up inside him, and he became eager to give it a try.
Lu Qiao loosened up his muscles and walked to the center of the training grounds, facing Chris.
He calmed himself down and said seriously,
“Come on.”
Chris let out a loud roar and charged forward!
However, after they exchanged blows, Chris froze.
Lu Qiao’s movements were several times faster than before. Chris hadn’t even seen clearly what had happened when the person in front of him had already disappeared, and fists and feet were attacking him from angles he couldn’t even see!
After several exchanges, Chris became somewhat dazed. He even stopped where he was and turned his head around blankly.
The next second, Lu Qiao swept his legs out and knocked him to the ground!
Soft whispers of discussion rang out throughout the training center. The trainees stared without blinking, their faces filled with shock.
Everyone had seen Lu Qiao spar with people before, but today’s Lu Qiao was completely different from before!
His speed and strength seemed to be on an entirely different level!
Ellie was also left speechless.
She trained together with Chris every day, so she knew better than anyone how much her younger brother had improved under the “torture” of their new trainer. Yet today, Chris hadn’t even had a chance to show what he could do. Within just a few minutes, Lu Qiao had already knocked him down several times.
She even felt that Lu Qiao was holding back. If he hadn’t held back, Chris probably wouldn’t have even been able to properly fight him!
The director understood what was going on after watching the match. Before Chris could completely break down, he called out,
“All right, stop.”
Lu Qiao stopped and pulled Chris to his feet, then praised him.
“You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
Chris stared at Lu Qiao in a daze, then suddenly let out a choked sob.
Lu Qiao was startled.
Was he about to cry? He had clearly complimented him!
The director hurriedly pulled Chris back, coughed, then rubbed his head and praised him.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’ve gotten a lot stronger. You’re really impressive, Chris!”
Chris’s eyes were red as he demanded,
“What the hell is wrong with him? Is he a freak?”
The freak Lu Qiao:
“…”
The director laughed awkwardly.
“He just had a breakthrough in his secondary gene. It’s normal for his physical abilities to become stronger than before. Don’t cry, don’t cry!”
Since he had personally called Chris over, he ultimately had to personally comfort him too.
Facing a boy who kept going “boo-hoo, boo-hoo,” the director developed a massive headache.
Meanwhile, Lu Qiao was surrounded by a group of trainees.
These trainees had already admired Lu Qiao to begin with. After witnessing his skills today, they became even more excited, practically treating him like a god.
“Lu Qiao, you’ll definitely be able to join the military headquarters this time, right?” one trainee asked excitedly.
They didn’t know that Lu Qiao had already awakened a Consciousness Tribe gene, and that he had already been confirmed to be able to enter the military headquarters without having to undergo the assessment.
Lu Qiao didn’t explain much. He simply smiled and nodded.
“Yeah!”
That trainee encouraged him.
“Then you’ll definitely be able to join the First Legion!”
The other trainees also chimed in.
“Yeah! You’ll finally be able to join Marshal Yan’s legion!”
“By the way, does Marshal Yan know yet? I heard you two are still in contact. Someone saw you together during that competition!”
“You’re finally going to achieve your dream! Keep it up, Lu Qiao!”
Lu Qiao, however, froze.
He really had mentioned his aspirations in front of everyone before, but not very often. After Ellie and Chris entered the training center, he had never brought the matter up again.
But it turned out that everyone knew.
The First Legion. Yan Qiu. His dream.
Yan Qiu was his dream. He dreamed of being able to stand side by side with Yan Qiu, and his dream was about to come true.
Lu Qiao truly hadn’t expected that everyone had remembered his wish. As they encouraged him now, a surge of passion also welled up inside him.
He clenched both fists and gave the people he had spent two years with—people who had always supported and cared about him—a huge smile.
He said sincerely,
“Thank you, everyone!”
For the rest of the afternoon, Lu Qiao found a training room by himself and earnestly continued training according to the plan the director had previously given him.
Although his gene had stabilized and he had broken through, he still couldn’t let his training fall behind.
Because there was still a distance between him and that man.
He would keep working hard until he could truly stand shoulder to shoulder with that man.
Lu Qiao trained alone from noon until evening, becoming completely absorbed in it.
From endurance to strength to speed, sweat gradually soaked through his training clothes.
He flapped his wings in the air, practicing his flying movements. He didn’t even know how much time had passed when, at one moment, he suddenly turned around—
And a familiar figure suddenly appeared right in front of him!
Lu Qiao was startled and instinctively reached out to catch him.
The man landed steadily in his arms.
He was somewhat heavy! Lu Qiao nearly lost his grip and dropped him, so he hurriedly tightened his arms and held him securely.
Both of them were somewhat dumbfounded as they stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Only then did Lu Qiao realize that it was already seven o’clock.
This time, Yan Qiu had transferred directly to his side, and Lu Qiao had…
given Yan Qiu a princess carry!
Looking at the tall, imposing man in his arms, who looked particularly out of place in such a position, Lu Qiao couldn’t help but let out a “pfft” of laughter.
He had teased Yan Qiu about this that morning, and he hadn’t expected the two of them to actually end up holding each other like this. The sight of Yan Qiu like this was just too funny!
After his brief moment of astonishment, Yan Qiu quickly returned to his usual calm demeanor.
He reached out and wrapped an arm around Lu Qiao’s neck, raising an eyebrow.
“You like holding me like this?”
Lu Qiao:
“…”
Lu Qiao immediately became obedient. He restrained his smile, landed on the ground, and politely set the man down.
After Yan Qiu steadied himself, he straightened his clothes. Seeing how awkward and restrained Lu Qiao looked, a helpless expression appeared between his brows.
Lu Qiao hadn’t expected himself to keep training until it was time either. Remembering that they had agreed to go out for dinner that evening, he stammered,
“I-I’ll go change my clothes!”
Yan Qiu lowered his eyes and glanced at him before asking,
“Don’t you want to take a shower?”
Lu Qiao had just finished training. He was covered in sweat and as hot as a little furnace.
At those words, Lu Qiao jolted and became instantly wary.
How could he possibly take a shower under the current circumstances?!
Of course, Lu Qiao couldn’t deny that as long as he and Yan Qiu were locked together like this, there was no way to avoid showering together.
But right now…
He simply didn’t want to!
So he turned sideways and said somewhat bashfully,
“J-Just… don’t shower…”
The man chuckled behind him.
“You’ll still have to shower when we get back.”
Lu Qiao retorted,
“I don’t have to!”
Yan Qiu said,
“You’ll start to smell.”
Lu Qiao viciously declared,
“From now on, I’ll finish showering before seven every day!”
The next second, he felt a warm breath move close to his ear.
The man asked teasingly in a low voice,
“Lu Qiao, what exactly are you worried about?”
Lu Qiao’s heart suddenly jumped.
He widened his eyes and turned his head to glare at the man.
…He actually knew and was still asking?!
This man…
How could he be so awful?!