Chapter 109 Top Alpha: He was once a crippled Omega 19. (Part 2)

The man's eerie green eyes were fixed on him, just like the muzzle of the gun.

For a moment, Qi Pingye had a vague feeling of being stared at fiercely by a beast.

His heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained natural, showing no change.

“A month ago, on the public spaceship, Y3 modified planet,” Qi Pingye said calmly and frankly as his mind raced, “I had a brief encounter with you and your companions.”

Hearing this answer, the man seemed a little surprised. He paused for a moment, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I thought you would think about it more before answering."

Qi Pingye said, "How do you know I haven't thought about it?"

The man brandished the gun: "Tell me?"

"Actually, there's not much to say," Qi Pingye sighed. "It was really unexpected to run into a familiar face here. Even though I consider myself quick to conceal it, I'm still a novice after all. Facing an old hand like you, I must have given myself away to some extent."

"Whether you're trying to trick me more or you're making a more certain judgment, in this situation, I only have two choices: either lie or confess."

"Then why not choose to lie?" the man asked, his eyes piercing.

"Three reasons."

Qi Pingye said, "First, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Regarding the public spaceship incident, regardless of your specific purpose, it's clear that you went for Qi Mingzhao and the others, and your actions offended them. So, can I be considered a friend? Of course, we should be honest with our friends."

Moreover, this honesty might yield some secret information about the Qi family that he doesn't know. After all, they share similar stances, and there are always areas where they can cooperate or take advantage of each other.

Naturally, this is something that cannot be said directly.

"Secondly, this kind of thing can't be hidden for long," Qi Pingye continued. "I've heard about Black Lily's abilities. If she really wants to investigate me, it shouldn't take much effort."

"Thirdly, I want to join the Black Widow. If I succeed, you will be my teammate and comrade-in-arms for a long time to come. Apart from certain private secrets, it's best not to hide things that might cause a crisis of trust, otherwise they could become a hidden danger for some event in the future. This is extremely fatal on the battlefield."

"So, to put it bluntly, I chose to be honest because honesty is more beneficial than lying."

Qi Pingye said, "You should understand."

The man scoffed: "In such a short time, your devilish thoughts have certainly turned quite a bit."

Although his tone was not very good, he turned the gun in his hand and lowered the muzzle.

"What grudge do you have against the Qi family?" the man asked.

Qi Pingye remained expressionless and pulled out the explanation he had prepared in advance: "I am a mechanic. A few years ago, when I was still on Central Star, I was secretly suppressed by the Qi family because of a mechanical competition that Qi Mingzhao participated in, and I lost everything."

This wasn't fabricated out of thin air; it actually happened, and there was more than one instance, so Qi Pingye applied it without any qualms. Moreover, these events all occurred on the Central Star, making it very difficult for Hei Baihe to verify them even if she wanted to.

"Everyone on the StarNet says that you were jealous and framed Qi Mingzhao, and the subsequent outcome was just the Qi family's appropriate counterattack," the man said, clearly aware of the situation.

"Facts speak louder than words," Qi Pingye said.

The man raised his eyes, his gaze sharp and piercing like that of a hawk, sweeping across the vast plain.

Qi Pingye looked back at him calmly.

A few seconds later, the man slammed the gun down on the desk, stood up, and raised his hand: "My name is Gran, vice-captain of the Black Lily mercenary squad. Welcome to the team."

The somewhat somber atmosphere in the office suddenly eased.

Qi Pingye smiled and shook hands with the man: "Ye Ping, please take good care of me in the future, Vice Captain."

“We’re all brothers, it’s only right,” Gran waved his hand, sat down again, and gestured for Qi Pingye to relax. “Sit down. Now that you’ve decided to join Black Lily, there are a few things I need to say beforehand…”

Qi Pingye pulled out a chair and sat down opposite the desk, listening to Gran explain the situation and rules of Black Lily.

The Black Lily Squad is not large, with a total of seventeen people including him, a newcomer. Usually, they operate in groups of two or three, and only occasionally do they have to deploy the entire squad for major missions.

The team doesn't ask about backgrounds, but requires members to have neither killed innocent people nor committed any acts of betrayal.

The squad leader is named Fedoduo, a female Alpha who is proficient in firearms and various weapons. The vice-captain is Gran, who has undergone some physical modifications and has strong combat abilities.

The other team members also have their own strengths, and their overall strength is among the best in the mercenary squads of the entire Far Voyage Star.

As for his relationship with the Silverwing Legion, Gran didn't mention it. It's obvious that such a thing can't be told to a newcomer right away, but Qi Pingye wasn't in a hurry; patience was the last thing he lacked.

“I just watched your assessment video,” Grant said. “You must be from a military academy, right? Although you tried to hide it, some of your routines and habits are still noticeable.”

"But don't worry, Black Widow has training programs for newcomers that will help you change your style as much as possible so that it's less obvious."

"Do you have anything else to do today?" Grant asked.

Qi Pingye shook his head: "No."

“Then let’s start training this afternoon after lunch,” Gran said. “New recruits will train for a week, then join daily tasks and training to build rapport with everyone.”

"Okay," Qi Pingye replied.

"Oh right, take a look at this." Grant took a piece of electronic paper, which displayed a black market bounty.

The bounty was opened, and a simulated holographic image of the relevant information and a commemorative coin was projected and appeared in front of Qi Pingye.

"It's related to that public spaceship pheromone inspection," Gran said, glancing at Qi Pingye's expression as if by accident. "It's said that Qi Mingzhao, the young master of the Qi family, was attacked by villains and lost his adoptive parents' belongings... This is the belonging, and Qi Mingzhao offered a reward for it."

"This has nothing to do with you, right?"

"No," Qi Pingye had already seen these on the black market, so he showed no unusual expression. He even frowned slightly and asked, "Are you paying attention to this because you suspect that this thing is not simple?"

“You’ll understand when you get to Black Lily. For the sake of the mission, we’ll even question a piece of cat poop,” Gran said casually, withdrawing his gaze from Qi Pingye’s face. “By the way, don’t use honorifics here. There aren’t many formalities.”

"Okay." Qi Pingye said.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Gran called over a female Beta team member named Wang Qian to lead Qi Pingye to familiarize himself with the base.

Qi Pingye only truly breathed a sigh of relief the moment he stepped out of the deputy captain's office.

Glenn was tall and burly, with a rugged appearance. He didn't look like someone who was good at scheming, but once he opened his mouth, he was a master of deception.

And yet he still has the nerve to say he's full of wicked thoughts.

Qi Pingye was speechless.

Wang Qian wasn't very talkative, and aside from necessary introductions, she didn't chat much with Qi Pingye. After taking him to lunch, she sent him to the training grounds to begin his rookie training.

The training of mercenary squads is different from that of military academies. There are methods, but they are not formal and are a completely different system.

Qi Pingye considered himself to have good talent and strength, but it was still not easy for him to accept. Moreover, he hadn't undergone such high-intensity training in a long time. If he didn't have some ability, he would have been too tired to even walk home after an afternoon of training.

"There's a dormitory for you at the base. If you're too tired to climb any further after you finish, just go to your dormitory to rest," Gran said after checking on you in the evening.

"No need," Qi Pingye refused. "Someone at home is waiting for me."

Grant smiled knowingly, winked at him, patted him on the shoulder, and left.

Qi Pingye didn't explain anything. After the evening ended, he went to pick up Chen Wu as usual. The two chose a seafood hot pot and barbecue restaurant that was open until the early hours of the morning. They chatted about their experiences that day and enjoyed a hearty meal before finally going home with full bellies.

“You still need to be careful around Black Lily,” Shenwu said. “From what you’ve said, they probably don’t know about the commemorative coin issue, but because of what happened on the spaceship, they’ll still have some suspicions about you…”

"I understand, don't worry, I'll be careful," Qi Pingye replied patiently.

Shen Wu glanced at him but didn't say anything more. On the way home, she dragged him into a self-service pharmacy and bought some medicine for sprains and bruises.

Qi Pingye didn't talk to Shen Wu about the training in detail, but after spending so much time together, no matter how he tried to hide it, how could Shen Wu not see that he was different from usual?

When he accidentally leaned against his chest, the Alpha clenched his teeth in pain for a moment.

"Don't pretend."

Shen Wu pushed the medicine in front of him, her amber eyes looking at him. "Do you want to apply the medicine yourself, or do you want me to help you?"

Qi Pingye didn't expect Shen Wu to see through it.

Sometimes he really felt that he was very lucky, that no matter what situation he was in, there were people who cared about him and missed him, but: "No need, I can do it myself, go to sleep."

Taking off her clothes and having an Omega help apply medicine is out of the question. Besides, given Black Lily's training intensity, minor injuries are inevitable in the future, and we can't keep bothering Shenwu every day.

Shen Wu was rejected. Her gaze swept over the Alpha's muscular waist and abdomen without leaving a trace. She felt a little disappointed, but she didn't say anything on the surface. She just nodded and got up to go back to her room.

Qi Pingye pinched the bridge of his nose, took a shower, and applied the medicine himself.

Just as Qi Pingye had predicted, the following week saw no major injuries, but a constant stream of minor ones, requiring repeated applications of liniments for bruises and sprains. After the new recruit training ended, Qi Pingye teamed up with Gran and Wang Qian to begin missions, which became irregular, as he could no longer pick up Chen Wu from school every day.

Shenwu didn't mind, only reminding him to be careful, and even used the money he earned working at the machine repair shop to buy him a set of intelligent mechanical inner armor.

Qi Pingye could make something like this, but what Chen Wu gave it had a different meaning.

In the first few days after he got it, he modified it and wore it as an outer vest every day, walking around the Black Lily base. His appearance was inexplicably annoying, which made many teammates dislike him and challenge him to training.

The planet Far Voyage is influenced by nearby stars, experiencing only winter and summer, with no spring or autumn. When Qi Pingye and Shen Wu first arrived here, it was late summer. In the blink of an eye, two or three months had passed, and when they came to their senses again, winter had already been in full swing.

On a snowy winter day, Qi Pingye was huddled in an inconspicuous gray car, intently staring at several monitor screens.

This is their team's new mission: to monitor the new lover of a high-ranking official who recently arrived from the Central Star and is hiding in the Third District. Five days have passed since the mission began, and they haven't found anything yet.

This male Omega's daily life is very simple. He only does three things every day: eat, sleep, and do beauty treatments. He rarely even leaves the house. The so-called important person who is supporting him hasn't shown up for ten days, and hasn't even made a single call.

"A big shot from Central Star..."

Qi Pingye pondered, feeling that this task was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Around noon, there was a knock on the car door. Gran came over, squeezed into the back seat, and handed Qi Pingye a boxed lunch.

"Let's set up a smart monitor and eat first," Grant said.

Qi Pingye took it.

"You've been doing mostly fighting missions lately, so it's a bit strange to suddenly get a surveillance mission now," Gran asked abruptly.

Qi Pingye said, "It's good to take a rest."

Grant raised an eyebrow: "You're good, kid. You can stay calm. The most important thing to accomplish many things is patience."

His words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but before Qi Pingye could think further, Gran continued in his usual way, like an older brother imparting experience: "Don't find this mission boring. Learn the details carefully; they'll be useful. Besides, it's only seven days. Five days have already passed. If there are no new developments in a couple of days, we'll leave. We don't have that much time to waste here. If it weren't for that Councilor Peng being so elusive, we wouldn't need to be here monitoring this place."

Representative Peng, as Qi Pingye knew, belonged to the Bright Party, along with the Qi family and the current president. The Bright Party had been the ruling party of the White Night Federation for decades and wielded immense power.

"Only monitoring for seven days, it seems the team thinks the probability of finding someone here is not high?" Qi Pingye raised his eyes slightly.

“Definitely,” Glen said, biting into his hamburger. “The fact that this Omega is Congressman Peng’s new lover was originally information from an intelligence broker. We checked it and thought it was somewhat possible, so we decided to give it a shot.”

Qi Pingye said, "What if we actually catch them? There are no instructions for the next move yet. What's the point of monitoring us for so long..."

Grant interrupted him: "You're a good kid, but you overthink things. We mercenaries are thugs, thinking so much is useless. You'll know what to do when we get there."

"Oh right."

Gran's gaze suddenly shifted, seemingly unintentionally landing on Qi Pingye. "Ye Ping, I heard you were inquiring about a field hospital recently? That hospital had some trouble during the alien invasion, and the relevant records were deliberately erased, making it very difficult to find..."

Why did you suddenly decide to look it up?

Since he started investigating the events of twenty-four years ago, Qi Pingye never expected to be able to completely hide it from anyone. However, he used a roundabout pretext and wasn't too afraid of being targeted.

But how did Grant find out about this so soon?

Qi Pingye remained calm: "This matter is..."

However, before he could actually say anything, a very low alarm suddenly sounded on the monitor screen inside the car.

"Intelligent monitoring alert: An unusual confidential call has been detected on the current monitoring channel!"

Qi Pingye's expression changed, and he immediately stopped talking.

Glenn smacked his hamburger, straightened up abruptly, and commanded, "Connect the wiretapping!"

"Received, in progress!"

The intelligent monitoring system responded immediately.