Deliberate Mark

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey wants the action now

A lifetime, what a distant and heartwarming word. If only Gu Ang could really leave his other ties behind and live here for the rest of his life. Gu Ang was confused, thinking that life was so long, how could he commit so easily? He whispered back, “Big Brother, good night.”

“Good night, Gu Ang,” Ye Fei’s voice was low, the tone after almost hidden away when he called his name. When was he going to be able to call him Guang Guang properly? Ye Fei had a vague feeling that it shouldn’t be long now. His palm rested on Gu Ang’s smooth back, making it hard to sleep.

He couldn’t call him that name and it wasn’t quite right to do anything but drop an extremely restrained kiss on his brow by the light of darkness. Gu Ang was pressed into his arms, breathing calmly, and soon fell asleep. Just like before, as long as he was held by Ye Fei, he would be able to sleep peacefully.

Ye Fei was sleepless, and in the darkness he couldn’t easily put his mind down, his fingers slid to the spot where Gu Ang’s gland was, where he had made a temporary mark only two days before. It was his bite that allowed Gu Ang to suppress the rut and now be able to lie comfortably next to him.

If he didn’t bite… it would be time for something to happen.

Ye Fei sighed slightly, touching Gu Ang in the darkness again and rubbing his shoulder.

When he had just showered, he had noticed that there were still faint scars on his shoulder where Gu Ang had last bitten down, red rings of teeth marks that showed the little friend’s open teeth and claws. But Gu Ang didn’t care too much as he didn’t dare to rest his gaze on him. If Gu Ang saw it, he wouldn’t be able to hide behind the mystery man’s identity. Looks like he’d have to get dressed and cover the bruises before Gu Ang woke up tomorrow morning.

Ye Fei was running through his plans for the next few days in his mind with his eyes closed when he heard what seemed like a communicator going off. He didn’t want to care, but the caller seemed extraordinarily persistent, not giving up.

Ye Fei was afraid of waking Gu Ang up and carefully let go of the man, before going into the bathroom with his communicator. Closing the door, he pressed the answer button and a cool voice came through, “Ye Fei, it’s me, Lin XiuYong.”

Ye Fei rubbed his brow, “What’s wrong?”

Lin XiuYong went straight to the point and his tone took on a bit of a questioning feel, “Why don’t you come out? Don’t tell me about the control system being damaged and you not being able to fix it, I won’t buy it.”

Ye Fei didn’t bother to hide it. They were all smart, he couldn’t fool him. “I’d like to spend a few more days with Gu Ang and I’ll find a chance to get it fixed in a month or so.”

No shade, no shame.

“In a month or so?” Lin XiuYong choked, exasperated to the point of laughter, “Why don’t you retire inside?”

Ye Fei hmmed, back leaning against the tiles, voice lazy, “Good idea, not a bad idea at all.”

Lin XiuYong tsked, his tone tinged with disgust.

“The mission is complete, you live in the same dorm room, so you’re really that much in a hurry to bypass a few days? There’s plenty of time at Red Flame, no one would rush you when you get back.”

“Dorm rooms are useless.” Ye Fei tugged at the corner of his mouth, “Now that we’re in the middle of a castle of chaos, surrounded by a growing number of rebels, it’s not often that Gu Ang and I will go into this drawbridge effect at the same time.”

He and Lin XiuYong were of the same personality, and with such an explanation, Ye Fei believed he would understand. In dangerous predicaments, confined spaces, both were more likely to rely on each other. It was also easier to get his heart racing and create impulses. He admitted it was a little mean and underhanded. But disdainful cheap tricks had to be used in order to spend a little more time with Gu Ang. It was working, at least for now.

Lin XiuYong was helpless, “Even if you lock Gu Ang up, why lock everyone up together?”

He quickly changed from Bai SiNing, vaguely replacing it with ‘everyone’.

“So it looks more real.” Ye Fei raised an eyebrow, his tone meaningful, “I’m sorry for delaying you two from meeting.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. Fine, count your blessings.” Lin XiuYong was also a man of action, not good at talking. Couldn’t talk the person out of it, so he just hung up the phone.

Ye Fei took the clean shirts out to dry on the small balcony, which was windy enough to air dry them in a few hours. He couldn’t sleep, so he stood on the balcony and watched the moon. He tipped his tongue to his palate and tried to smoke to relieve his craving.

No fire, no smoke, no white peach oolong tea. There was only one pure and simple Omega lying in bed, sleeping soundly. The titular five-star Admiral was going to be tortured to death by his own Alpha.

Ye Fei had been up almost all night, and as dawn broke, he got up and gathered Gu Ang’s dried shirt off and put it on, blocking the bite mark on his shoulders. Thinking about his call with Lin XiuYong, he turned to the surveillance room to handle the console again.

After destroying the damage more thoroughly, only then did he return to his room and lie back on the bed, waiting quietly for someone to wake up. It was only when the entire room was flooded with sunlight that Gu Ang’s eyes were shaken open by the blinding light. He slowly lifted his eyelids and saw Ye Fei’s handsome face.

And… wearing the shirt he took off yesterday. They were both similar in size, but Ye Fei was a little more lean, his muscles straining his shirt with some sexy folds.

Gu Ang rubbed his eyes, a little dazed, “You’re… awake and… why are you wearing my clothes?”

Ye Fei spoke in a dumb voice, “Lin XiuYong wanted me for something in the middle of the night. I couldn’t go out naked to make a call, could I? You’ve got my clothes pinned down, so I could only wear yours.”

He was getting really smooth now that he felt like he was making up reasons.

Gu Ang “oh”ed, “Odd, so now we switch them back?”

As he said that, he sat up and leaned over the bed, pulling Ye Fei’s shirt out from underneath him. The cotton material had become crumpled after being tossed and turned by him all night. Gu Ang was a little embarrassed, carrying his pickle-like shirt and not knowing how to speak.

Ye Fei stared at him, “Don’t bother taking it off, you’re wearing mine.”

It was early in the morning and Gu Ang almost bit the tip of his tongue, “I-I’m wearing yours? That’s not good.”

“You resent me?”

“No.” Gu Ang thought about it. Ye Fei had contributed his clothes to him in the middle of the night, and it seemed pretentious to push him any further. Besides, he kind of liked wearing Ye Fei’s clothes, they were tainted with a unique scent that belonged to him and made him feel especially comfortable. Since Ye Fei had given the option, he went down the steps.

Gu Ang nodded, “Okay, I’ll wear it. Bring my jacket for me.”

Ye Fei was instantly in a happy mood, “Okay.”

He watched as Gu Ang slowly buttoned his black shirt, the top two still loose, revealing his pale skin in a slutty manner. The shirt was slightly too big for him, making him look even leaner and taller. The neck ring that had been sent to him hung above his collar, hiding his collarbone and looking extra sexy. Looking left and right, it was just very eye-catching.

Ye Fei was about to give a few compliments when Bai SiNing’s loud crackling voice came in through the door, “Guys!!! XiuYong contacted me just now! He said he could teach me how to fix the console remotely through some means. WEEE!!! There’s help!!!”

The joy could be felt through the door panels.

Wei YangZe growled in reply, “That Lin XiuYong kid looks like a weakling, but I didn’t expect him to have two tricks up his sleeve at critical moments.”

Bai SiNing yelled back, “That’s right! No badmouthing my Brother Lin! Everyone hurry up and come to the control room, I’ll perform a miracle for everyone!”

The castle was so big that communication was all about yelling. Gu Ang felt a brain ache from the obvious distance away. He rubbed his deafened ears and touched Ye Fei, “Let’s go check it out too, just in case we do get out.”

Ye Fei hmmed, he knew that Lin XiuYong would dig in his heels and think of something.

Both of them were doing the things they did for the people they liked and could only forgive the reasons why.

By the time the two reached the control room, Bai SiNing had bent down into the huge chassis of the control room. While hanging up the comm, he listened to Lin XiuYong’s instructions on how to repair it.

Gu Ang gathered his loose coat and stole another glance at Ye Fei. Suddenly, he wasn’t so much looking forward to just going out without a hitch. In a trance last night, he thought he heard Ye Fei say “locked in for life”.

It seemed a bit of a shame that it had only been one night and nothing had progressed and they had to go back to their old ways. On this uninhabited ice blue planet, they could be far away from all the worldly cares and be trapped together inside this castle where they didn’t worry about food or water. Just for a moment, Gu Ang even wanted to sneak in and completely destroy any possibility of getting out, and then he and Ye Fei could be trapped here together.

But he couldn’t do that.

On his mother’s side, there was a mess waiting for him to fix, and he couldn’t be so selfish. Gu Ang mentally prayed that it wouldn’t be fixed immediately. It would be a happy time to stay a few more days, they could steal some time then.

“What the hell XiuYong? There’s no broken red wire in this place, huh? No, no, that blue button is clearly broken, so how would I know if it was on or off? I’m not color blind XiuYong, there really isn’t a green board…”

Just as Gu Ang’s thoughts were racing, Bai SiNing’s somewhat confused voice came from inside the chassis. Gu Ang raised an eyebrow. Even that science geek Lin XiuYong hadn’t been able to fix the console? There was something a little fishy about this.

It didn’t take long for a grimy Bai SiNing to crawl out of the chassis with a depressed expression. The ends of his eyes drooped and he sounded lost.

“Sorry everyone, XiuYong says he seemed to have made a mistake in extrapolating and needs some more time to work on it properly.”

Gu Ang sighed in relief and hooked his shoulder, patting him, “It’s okay, it’s not your fault.”

The others around them also gathered around and spoke in a variety of ways to comfort Bai SiNing. After all, they all knew that he just couldn’t resist sharing his excitement with everyone in advance. It was just joy too early and they still couldn’t get out.

The bamboo basket was empty.

Bai SiNing stared at the shirt under Gu Ang’s jacket, and then at Ye Fei, sweeping his heart away in a moment of contemplation. He exclaimed, “Brother Ang, are you and God Ye wearing each other’s clothes?”

“Hmm? You can tell?” Wei YangZe went over and looked at it, “Aren’t both black?”

Bai SiNing wagged his finger with a look of disgust as if the other was stupid. The primary skill of being a CP fan was careful observation and detailed sugar deductions. He explained, “Brother Ang’s clothes have dark patterns, God Ye’s are solid black. You can tell at a glance, you’re just not observing closely enough.”

Gu Ang interrupted, “Okay, okay, we took the wrong one.”

Bai SiNing had another intracranial climax and was all excited, “So you two slept together naked yesterday?”

My God, what passionate interactions were going on in little corners he didn’t know about.

Gu Ang: “……” Come on, you really did guess the plot in a crooked way.

Everyone was up in arms making jokes about the two, when Ye Fei, standing at the outermost edge of the crowd, suddenly felt a vibration in his communicator. He dropped his eyes and clicked on it, seeing a string of text from Lin XiuYong, [Ye Fei, are you crazy? How could you destroy the console twice?]

Ye Fei lifted his eyes and looked at Gu Ang, who was being constantly teased in the crowd, and hooked the corners of his mouth slightly. He pressed one hand against the screen and typed a quiet reply, [I said give me some time, you’ll spoil it early if you try to help.]

[Don’t make me destroy the console too much, then we can never get out, and we’ll just have to die in here with your Bai SiNing.]

Who didn’t know how to say harsh words? Ye Fei was top notch.

A few more vibrations and a large string of text popped up.

[What ‘my Bai SiNing’? What nonsense are you talking about?]

[This time our winter camp was suddenly attacked by the Federation, I’m afraid it was calculated to leak out in advance. It was imperative that you come out quickly, and we would work inside and outside to seize the signal tower and call for help from the Empire.]

Ye Fei’s expression was indifferent as he simply tapped on the screen a few times.

[Noted.]

Ye Fei knew quite well the character of this man, Lin XiuYong, who was by no means a credulous person. For him to say such a thing means that the matter must have been known inside through other channels. Someone closely related to Lin XiuYong… 

Who was full of hate towards him and Gu Ang…

And also a person with enough means and tact… 

Were Lin XiuYong’s words a disguised way of telling him that all of this was a conspiracy by that fellow Lu ChangBai?

His previous guesses weren’t off. It was just that, sure enough, people who fall in love weren’t very good in the head. This Lin XiuYong, who would rather use such insider information as a bargaining chip, was trying to cover his ears. Not daring to say out loud that he liked someone, not daring to admit that he wanted to meet with Bai SiNing immediately.

Ye Fei spat one word lightly, Goon.

—

Ye Fei and Lin XiuYong engage in a tug-of-war across the castle. These days he and Gu Ang were cozy, the two kept up their first day style and slept together every day without shame being lovey-dovey. By the third day, Lin XiuYong couldn’t carry on.

Ye Fei, the old dog, was just too meticulous. Ye Fei’s communicator was covered in dense writing.

[I was wrong, it’s almost time to get out.]

[Look outside the castle, more and more rebels are gathering. Not to look down on you and Gu Ang, but I think that if the rebels outside the castle continue to gather, I’m afraid that Bai SiNing guy would have a hard time getting out of there.]

[I’m worried about him, all right?]

Lin XiuYong was right. Because no word had been received that Corden had died, plus the fact that the Federation agent had deliberately screwed up before committing suicide by sending a message to half the planet informing for all rebels to rush this way immediately to attend the King. So, as the minutes ticked by, the number of rebels converging outside the castle began to increase exponentially.

Although no one could help the castle made of static alloy for a while, they all stationed themselves next to it, ready to catch a fish in a jar. But the flip side was that it was actually safest to stay inside.

[Then you’ll just have to find your own way to save him when the time comes.] Ye Fei deliberately hung on to Lin XiuYong and didn’t bother to return the messages that followed.

Early on the fifth day… 

“Brother Ye… it’s almost time! Over half a million troops are assembled outside the castle.”

“Even with all the concentrated firepower on Dean Jiang’s side, there’s no way for you guys to get out of the castle safely, let alone snatch the signal tower next to the castle. No kidding, don’t be capricious.”

“Alright, no more.” Ye Fei had been torturing people for days and had lost interest in teasing him. He spoke up and explained, “Even if we fix this controller on the first day, we’ll still have to deal with a constant stream of rebels besieging us, so I plan to wait until they gather a bit more and wipe them all out in one go to save us the trouble. You see, the growth rate of the rebels out there has now slowed down to even close to zero.”

Lin XiuYong coolly mocked, “I’m afraid you’ll have no problem fooling Bai SiNing with this excuse.”

“Okay, then I’ll stay a few more days.”

“I was wrong, Brother Ye, continue.” Lin XiuYong felt a headache and resolutely conceded. He hurried to coax this master, really afraid that Ye Fei would make him wait a few days more and he couldn’t reunite with Bai SiNing.

Ye Fei smiled, “I’ve done some good things too in the past few days besides staying with Gu Ang. The two of us worked together to fix all the heavy weapons the castle came with, and we’re pretty much done now.” He continued, “Tell Dean Jiang to listen to my instructions and use up all the energy, don’t hesitate. The castle is very well stocked with energy and could completely refill her mecha.”

Lin XiuYong sighed in relief, “No problem. Dean Jiang said she was ready to attack at any time.”

Ye Fei sunk his eyes and stood in the surveillance room to observe the status of the reinforcements outside. His long, slender fingers danced deftly over the weapon console, creating lethal damage with a single press. He twitched his lips and gave a simple order, “Okay, three minutes, fire on the target.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ye Fei casually sent over the records from before, reporting everything, including the coordinate points as well as the corresponding attack strengths, directions, and method choices. Well thought out, precisely calculated, very perfect battle plan.

Lin XiuYong found himself underestimating Ye Fei and thought he’s really been indulging in tenderness all day. He put away his joking expression and looked serious, “Copy that, will act on time.”

Day 5 of Red Flame’s squad entering the castle. All the rebels loyal to Corden had their darkest hour on this day. What had been the most impenetrable castle on his side bared its most hideous fangs against these rebels. Countless super heavy weapons were pointed at them, and in a flash, the most terrifying aspect was displayed.

The entire earth trembled, dented, and cracked. Throughout the sky, dense and dazzling points of light also appeared. Immediately afterwards, hundreds of long rainbows of the slamming sun cut into the rebels like heavenly swords.

Swathes of rebel mecha disappeared into the light in the early morning just after waking up, without even knowing exactly what these weapons were. Not even a hint of mechanical wreckage was left behind. None of the wars would have been bloody in the interstellar era.

At least on this battlefield, flesh and blood had no business being a wreck on the field of battle.

Ordinary junk mecha couldn’t stand up to neither the Federation’s heavy weapons, nor the overpowered weapons developed by the super genius Jiang RuiYuan.

Amidst a cloud of smoke, the reinforcements outside the castle had been wiped out in an instant. The gates of the castle slowly opened, and the nine piloted the mecha emerged from the castle, which had been baptized by various weapons.

All were in good spirits and all seem to have had a good time.

Jiang RuiYuan and Lin XiuYong were standing outside the entrance of the castle.

“Finally giving up and coming out?” Lin XiuYong glanced at Ye Fei’s mecha, the tone coming out of the communicator a little sour.

“XiuYong! XiuYong! What a long time not meeting.” Bai SiNing, driving the mecha, was the first to run up and give Lin XiuYong’s mecha a big hug.

The scene looked a bit comical, steel touching steel. But, after not seeing him for a few days, Lin XiuYong really missed this noisy and brainless little friend. He returned Bai SiNing’s hug awkwardly against the gaze of the crowd.

“Let’s go, while the other rebels are still here, let’s hurry up and send out the distress signal before the night gets too long.” Jiang RuiYuan interrupted the warmth and immediately urged the group to head to the signal tower next to the castle.

The signal tower wasn’t far from the castle, just over ten kilometers away.

For the crowd in the mecha, it was a matter of minutes.

Because of the highest level distress signal sent by Zhang Lang indiscriminately earlier, there was no one defending the signal tower at the moment, and it was easy to get in. The group easily made their way into the heart of the signal tower, the signal transmitter room.

Bai SiNing looked at Gu Ang and urged in a tone of immense trust, “Brother Ang, hurry up and try. See if you can break through the other side’s signal blockade with this signal tower.”

Several other people’s eyes also fell on Gu Ang in unison.

This entire fight, Gu Ang had been at the front of the line, helping to share the pressure with everyone else. It was obvious that a leader like Gu Ang who rushed to the front line regardless of life and death was more reassuring than a commander like Ye Fei or Lin XiuYong who gave orders. Everyone looked at him in unison and silence, hoping that Gu Ang would be the one to bring this tumultuous winter camp to a perfect conclusion.

Ye Fei winked back at him, “Go.”

Gu Ang nodded and walked over to the console and fired off the current situation of where his squad was and a few locations where his position was fixed.

After a brief radio murmur, everyone cheered.

“Great, the signal broke through the other side’s interference and was sent out!!!!”

“Ah’Ang’s a lucky star, what unbelievable luck was this!!!”

“All that’s left is to go back to the castle and stall properly while we wait for the Empire to send help!”

Ye Fei calmly splashed cold water on them, “Don’t get too excited, this time the signal broke through the interference of the other side. I’m afraid those Federation people will not be able to sit still either.”

Lin XiuYong agreed, “Now that the signal has been sent, we need to hurry back to the castle. After all, if further Federation reinforcements come next, I’m afraid we’ll be facing veterans of the Federation who have been in a hundred battles.”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The large screen shows the signal tower getting a segment of information.

Lin XiuYong clicked the receive button and the handsome man with light blonde hair on the big screen spoke slowly.

“Greetings all students of Red Flame, I am the Commander of the 83rd Regiment of the Third Imperial Army, Lieutenant General Shen Fei Zhou, and I am now a day’s distance away from you. Please protect yourselves and stay in a safe position while you wait for the Empire to come and pick you up and take you home.”

Bai SiNing exclaimed, “Shen Fei Zhou! Who was known as the strongest lieutenant general in the Empire, is here, this time those Federation losers will be cleaned up! Let’s go! Let’s go!!!”

“Is it actually him?”

Just as everyone was getting excited, Ye Fei frowned.

After signaling, everyone reentered the halls of the castle. A group of people lay across the couch in a seven-down position, each with a relaxed look on their face.

Bai SiNing even gleefully washed a bunch of fruit and arranged it neatly on a plate, and opened a few more bottles of alcohol to celebrate the victory.

The peace and quiet after a battle was a pleasure to the mind and body. Ye Fei was the only one who had returned from the signal tower with a tight frown on his face and an expression that hadn’t let up.

It was because that Shen Fei Zhou, who called himself Lieutenant General, really made him very unhappy. In his last life, not long after he and Gu Ang had joined the army, Shen Fei Zhou fell in love with Gu Ang at first sight and began to pursue him passionately.

Everyone was Alpha, as the two superiors, Shen Fei Zhou’s means also swift and ruthless, too enthusiastic. This love triangle of theirs, where hormones collided, was often the talk of the barracks after tea.

Shen Fei Zhou was older than them, and it took another three years before Ye Fei rose up to be on his level. In conclusion, it looked like a pretty big threat.

He never thought… that after crossing back he would be running into him here.

And now, being a freshman himself and the other man already being an Imperial Lieutenant General, the rank was lost completely. A stifled breath clogged Ye Fei’s chest, and tomorrow, the two of them would run into each other. It went round and round, but there was still no getting around this sinful relationship.

Ye Fei was rarely out of his depth, and in his last life he was so sure of Gu Ang’s feelings for him that he was fearless. But now, he couldn’t figure out if Gu Ang would still stand firmly by his side.

Ye Fei tipped his tongue against his upper jaw, unable to relieve his one-track mind of his irritation. He even wanted to get a little nastier tonight and start by putting Gu Ang on the spot for a lifetime mark. He had temporarily marked him three times, one more and Gu Ang would be completely his.

Whether he, Zhang Feizhou, Li Feizhou, or Shen Feizhou, none of them could steal his Guang Guang.

Gu Ang leaned back on the couch and was carrying a bunch of grapes, tossing them into his mouth one by one. He glanced at Ye Fei and asked vaguely, “What’s the matter? What’s with that serious expression?”

Just now, when he heard Shen Fei Zhou’s name, he also suddenly froze for a moment.

That guy liked him a lot and was still in hot pursuit until he got married. But Ye Fei… could it be because this guy was jealous?

Ye Fei casually rubbed his head and pulled out an excuse, “Haven’t smoked in days, got a bit of a craving.”

Gu Ang remembered the last time Ye Fei had coaxed him and fed him a bag of red cherries. The juice was sticky and sweet just the right amount. He followed his thought with action, picking the prettiest grape, squeezing it in his fingers, before stuffing it into Ye Fei’s mouth, “Have something sweet as a substitute.”

Author’s Note: 

Dog Ye: Don’t want to eat grapes, want to eat you.

All love rivals have relationship catalysts. Don’t rush me. We’re really close.