The smell of pheromones in the isolation room intertwined, embracing the dim light, and exuding an indescribable warmth.

Lu Zhao regained his senses from his trance, and felt Bai Li's soft hair rubbing against the back of his neck, and then his lips pressed against his gland, and licked it soothingly with the tip of his tongue. Lu Zhao

felt a little itchy from the rubbing of his hair, and couldn't help but chuckled. He reached out and rubbed Bai Li's head, and then touched the back of his neck.

There were not deep tooth marks on the gland, which also meant that Bai Li left a temporary mark.

Lu Zhao's fingertips touched the uneven marks, and Bai Li's lips followed closely and kissed his fingertips.

"Bai Li," Lu Zhao's voice was a little hoarse, "Because Tang..." He paused, "Because Bai Ying?"

It is very difficult to restrain one's impulse during the susceptible period. Some alphas will even mark their partners who have already been marked for the second time. Lu Zhao felt Bai Li biting around his glands uncontrollably several times in a trance. The possessiveness and dominance in the alpha's bones made Bai Li want to leave a permanent mark several times.

But in the end, the tooth marks left on Lu Zhao's glands were still slightly gentle and shallow traces.

"The impact of permanent marking on omegas is more serious than you think," Bai Li lifted the hair at Lu Zhao's neck and said softly, "You will not be able to fight back in front of me."

Lu Zhao turned over and glanced at Bai Li: "Do you want me to hit you?"

"No, Li Li is so weak." Bai Li was amused by him. He lay on his side with one hand supporting his head and said, "It's so miserable to be lame and in the susceptible period. What should I do if I get beaten and cried by my major general brother?"

Lu Zhao raised his hand to open the arm that was supporting his head, and Bai Li's head naturally rested on the pillow next to Lu Zhao.

Knowing that Lu Zhao was not happy to hear the word "lame", Bai Li smiled and leaned towards him again, saying: "In the original plan, I knew that I had a permanent mark on the night I married you."

Lu Zhao frowned, but did not interrupt.

"You are in great pain because of this permanent mark, and you can't resist at all. This is instinct." Bai Li said calmly. He grabbed Lu Zhao's bruised hand and rubbed it with his thumb. "You had to endure my violence later. Even before you left, you were beaten again because of this permanent mark." He paused, "I said that I was a bad person in the original plan."

Lu Zhao's heart was filled with heavy emotions, pulling his heart down. He spoke after a few seconds: "That's not you."

Bai Li said "hmm" and said lightly: "But look at your hand."

The Bai Li in the original trajectory is not the Bai Li of today, but the wounds on Lu Zhao have not decreased.

The plot does not describe the scene of Bai Li beating Lu Zhao in the original novel in detail, but it mentions that Lu Zhao's hand was injured because of this beating, which caused him to be unable to go to the simulation warehouse for a period of time, in order to set off the brutality of Bai Li in the original novel.

Perhaps because of this detailed description, Lu Zhao's hand was also injured by Bai Li in the real world. Even

if the original intention and the process are different, the plot still twists the important and detailed nodes to the original place.

"I can't guess the original trajectory from now on. There's not much described in the book, and I don't know which details will come true," Bai Li's fingers stroked across Lu Zhao's knuckles and took a deep breath, "But if I really..."

Lu Zhao held Bai Li's hand and wanted to speak, but Bai Li interrupted him: "If I really did something stupid, you haven't been permanently marked, you can resist, you know."

Lu Zhao didn't say anything.

"Whoever provokes you, you will beat him to pieces," Bai Li looked at Lu Zhao and asked him to answer, "Including me, okay?"

This time Bai Li didn't actually avoid the problem.

He calmly told Lu Zhao a problem he was about to face and gave his own way of dealing with it. But Lu Zhao didn't know why, he didn't feel satisfied at all because of Bai Li's frankness.

For so many years, Bai Li has been thinking about these things.

Without getting an answer from Lu Zhao, Bai Li clenched his hands a little tighter: "You have to keep some initiative, really, this is my experience over the years."

After a few seconds, Lu Zhao finally said "hmm".

Bai Li breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had been given a layer of protection, and blurted out another sentence: "This way, if I get beaten, you can still help me vent my anger."

"..." Lu Zhao felt uncomfortable. Hearing this grandson say such a thing, he was choked and couldn't speak for a long time. "Beat yourself."

Bai Li said pitifully: "I'm so weak."

Seeing his droopy look, Lu Zhao felt that half of his heart fell down, and the other half was pulled up by Bai Li, just hanging in the air. He didn't know how to deal with this feeling, and finally he just grabbed Bai Li's head and rubbed it.

After making Bai Li's soft hair into a dandelion, the two stopped laughing.

Bai Li half sat up and fiddled with his hair: "Did you just say Bai Ying?"

"Yeah," Lu Zhao looked at him and said, "I thought you were afraid of permanent marking because of her."

Bai Li sat there with his legs crossed, thought for a while and spoke: "I don't know, I just feel that she makes me very..."

He frowned, unable to find a suitable adjective.

Lu Zhao reached out and touched his knee: "Very weak."

"Yeah," Bai Li nodded, "Very weak."

This feeling of powerlessness gradually accumulated every day from childhood to adulthood, and it increasingly pulled Bai Li away from Bai Ying.

There was even a time when Bai Li felt that it was much easier to do the mecha research, which he didn't know whether it would succeed or not, than to pull Bai Ying out of the quagmire.

Lu Zhao put some force on his hand and said lightly: "Bai Li, you can't save her."

Bai Li turned his head to look at him.

"People can't expect others to pull themselves out of the quagmire," Lu Zhao said, "People will only drag others into the quagmire."

He paused for a few seconds: "Don't fall into it, these things are not your fault."

Bai Li squeezed Lu Zhao's hand, and asked after a while: "Seeing her example of being repeatedly permanently marked, are you afraid?"

Lu Zhao tilted his head to think about it, and said frankly: "I don't like the feeling of being helpless, so I didn't like permanent marking before."

"Don't like it, but are willing to accept my mark?" Bai Li smiled.

Lu Zhao nodded and said, "Hmm," "It's not that I have no choice."

If it's not that I have no choice, then it can only be considered that I am willing to do it.

From Bai Li's angle, he could see the scars on Lu Zhao's body. In addition to his back, his shoulders, arms and chest were all covered with scars of varying sizes.

A person has exchanged everything he has for his current position, but he can still be defeated because of his gender.

Bai Li couldn't tell what he felt in his heart. He stroked the scar on Lu Zhao's arm and said, "When I was on a mission, I encountered an omega who was permanently marked many times and injected with excessive pheromones. It was too tragic. When he was rescued, he didn't even remember who he was. The alpha who marked him was killed on the spot. The omega couldn't stand up because of long-term abuse, but he could still crawl to the side of the A and smell his pheromones according to his instinct."

Lu Zhao is generally not allowed to participate in such missions. After all, he is an omega, and the legion also wants to take care of his emotions. Bai Li didn't need to worry about these things. He had participated in many missions and witnessed many tragedies.

"I was still young at that time and almost vomited on the spot," Bai Li shook his head. "It was terrible. I didn't understand how people could become like that. The officer who led the team at that time told me that this is what omegas are like after being permanently marked. After being marked two or three times, you can kick and beat him, but he won't leave you."

The voice was very flat, but Lu Zhao felt a chill in his heart when he heard it.

"Later, Bai Ying also..." Bai Li clasped his hands together and held Lu Zhao's hand, "I don't want you to become like that."

Lu Zhao looked at him and said, "Hmm," "Coward." "I

'm not really afraid," Bai Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He leaned over and kissed Lu Zhao's lips, "I don't want you to become like that, but I want to give you a stamp."

Lu Zhao thought of the few bite marks that Bai Li had endured around the glands when he was at his most frantic, and he believed what Bai Li said.

"But there's no hurry, no hurry," Bai Li's kiss went from the corner of his mouth to his cheek, and then to his earlobe. He said hoarsely, "We still have a long time to live together."

This was the first time that Bai Li mentioned their future life without evasion.

They were still young and had plenty of time to get deeper into each other's lives.

Bai Li knew how much he longed for this. He had been dry for too long. Lu Zhao was a galaxy, and he wanted to rush in and touch every star that belonged to Lu Zhao. It didn't matter

if they were incomplete or dim, he wanted to understand them all.

He felt a slight tremor in Lu Zhao's breathing. Without stopping his movements, Bai Li whispered a dirty word in his ear.

Lu Zhao half-closed his eyes, looked at Bai Li in silence, and stretched out his hand to grab Bai Li's waist without showing any weakness.

Bai Li grabbed her so hard that she barely cried out. Her face was stained red and her eyes were wet. She couldn't help herself after being looked at by Lu Zhao, and buried her head in Lu Zhao's arms.

Young Master Bai knew that Major General Lu would fall for this, and he whined shamelessly, "Woo woo, Major General brother is so fierce."

"Well," Lu Zhao said, "how else can I shut up your big mouth."

The shared emotional fluctuations after the temporary marking were more frightening than expected. Bai Li's susceptible period gradually became stable under the impact of pheromones. While he said submissive words, he seduced Lu Zhao and took him into the unspeakable sea.

The sea water was submerged.

The puppy in Bai Li's heart came out again, but it was no longer howling. It grew into a beast, huge and fierce. It has a name, desire.

It is a fierce emotion that can even dominate fear.

No one could restrain this beast anymore. It wanted to squeeze out of Bai Li's chest, to devour, to break in.

But Bai Li thought that if Lu Zhao touched its head, it might still bark.

Because it was raised to be like this by Lu Zhao.

At noon, Bai Li and Lu Zhao drove back to the apartment from the hospital. Bai

Li was wearing a baggy short-sleeved shirt bought from a hypermarket. He and Lu Zhao each carried two large bags. In Bai Li's hands were the two people's wrinkled suits and military uniforms that were no longer wearable, and in Lu Zhao's hands were a batch of new medicines that Lao Zheng had prescribed before he left. After filling the two large bags

, the two returned home.

The apartment was Bai Li's apartment not long ago, but after a few days, he felt that it was a bit like home when he came back.

Bai Li stood in the living room and looked left and right. The room was still the same room, with not much furniture. Outside the French window was a bright and prosperous scene. The robot butler had not seen the owner of the room for two days and showed great enthusiasm. He hit Bai Li's uninjured leg and said, "You bastard, you brought home another bag of garbage!"

This was a scolding to Bai Li for making the bag of clothes unwearable.

Nothing in the room had changed, but when Lu Zhao stood there, Bai Li felt at ease in the apartment for the first time.

"The interview at the institute has been postponed. Situ said he will contact you at the specific time," Lu Zhao sorted the bags of medicine and placed them in different layers of the constant temperature cabinet, and continued, "You have to go to the hospital for a follow-up examination next month."

On the way back just now, Lu Zhao explained the general situation, including his own feelings on the ship and Jiang Hao's doubts, etc.

Bai Li already had a general understanding, and while thinking about finding Situ to discuss more, he responded, bent down and threw the bag of dirty clothes to the robot butler. The

robot butler didn't hold it firmly, and the little white ball rolled out along the mouth of the bag and rolled to Bai Li's feet.

"Isn't this the one that Si Dong was playing with?" Bai Li picked it up, "How did it fall into the bag?" Lu

Zhao remembered this: "Si Dong gave it to Situ and asked him to pass it on to you. You were not feeling well at the time, so he gave it to me."

The little white ball was something Situ played with himself. It was not very stable. It made a loud noise when it fell to the ground. I don't know if it was broken.

Lu Zhao connected his personal terminal to the little white ball according to Situ's instructions. This thing was simple to make, with a small storage space, and only a recording was kept.

"Look, it's the day we get on the cruise ship," Bai Li came over with two bottles of drinks and sat down on the sofa next to Lu Zhao, "Click it and listen."

Lu Zhao glanced at Bai Li and hesitated.

Si Dong said he would give this thing to Bai Li, and he was not sure whether he should listen to it.

Bai Li smiled: "It's okay, let's listen together."

When the recording was turned on, the first sound that came out was a muffled sound, as if something heavy hit the wall.

Then, Tang Xiao's suppressed roar rang out: "Anyway, when the Bai family has no heir, Kaiyuan will definitely take over! When Kaiyuan has established himself in the military, Bai Li will be nothing!"

Lu Zhao tightened his fingers, grasped his personal terminal, and subconsciously looked at Bai Li.

This didn't seem to cause much reaction from Bai Li, and a mocking smile appeared on his face.

The voice continued to come from the recording, a female voice with a crying tone: "And I, the Bai family still has me! Those are the hard work of many generations, you promised my father..."

"That old thing is dead a long time ago!" Tang Xiao's mask of an old noble was completely stripped off in the recording, "The Bai family does have you, if you weren't surnamed Bai, I would have to revolve around you and bother to flatter that old thing?! I tried every means to chase you, but in the end, Bai Li, that brat, got you!"

Mrs. Tang sobbed, "That's also my and your son..."

Tang Xiao roared, "He is the grandson of Mr. Bai, not my son!"

The roar was accompanied by the sound of fists hitting the body, and Mrs. Tang let out a small cry.

Lu Zhao's body was stiff. He knew that the Bai family and the Tang family had always been at odds, and he also knew that Bai Li didn't like Tang Xiao, but this was the first time he really knew the darkness behind it. That day,

Mrs. Tang stood in the warm light of the corridor, talking to Bai Li with the wound from the punch.

He knew that this recording was a stab in Bai Li's heart, and reached out to turn it off.

"It's okay," Bai Li held his hand and smiled, "Listen, this is our family's mess."

Mrs. Tang's sobbing voice came from the recording: "Li Li is still young, he and Major General Lu are both young, the Bai family will not collapse..."

There was a rare determination in the tail of this voice. Mrs. Tang was indeed so sure.

She was sure of Bai Li, and felt that as long as Bai Li was there, the Bai family would not collapse.

"That's not necessarily true. I tell you, I heard from the Gao family that Lu Zhao's health has been bad. He doesn't stay at home and insists on going to the battlefield. Can his body bear it? I heard that the last injury was too serious. If it happens again, how many years can he live?" Tang Xiao sneered, "Bai Li? Bai Li has been gone for a long time. When the news of Lu Zhao's infertility is spread, everyone will know that the Bai family is finished. He will either divorce Lu Zhao and find another one, or everything in the Bai family will return to you, the eldest daughter of the Bai family..."

The recording at the end was unclear. The little white ball knocked. There was still a small part of the recording at the end, but when it was played, only the sound of electricity was left.

Lu Zhao felt that just listening to this recording was enough to suffocate him. He disconnected the little white ball in silence.

Neither of them said anything. After a long pause, Bai Li said, "The Gao family is asking about you."

"Well, maybe," Lu Zhao replied, paused, and looked sideways at Bai Li, "There is a recording, which can be released."

Bai Li was stunned: "It mentions your affairs, are you willing to release it?"

"It's nothing," Lu Zhao said lightly, "It doesn't matter."

Most people don't think that they are weak in a certain place at the beginning, but when they are ridiculed by others, they know that it should be a weakness.

But Lu Zhao didn't think it was a weakness.

Lu Zhao glanced at Bai Li: "Do you mind?"

"Fuck," Bai Li stretched out his arms and hung them on his shoulders, "I mind that I am the grandson."

Lu Zhao's mouth curled up and said "hmm".

Bai Li didn't think it was a weakness either.

"But it's useless to release this thing now," Bai Li held the little white ball in his hand and played with it, "It's at most a scandal of the nobility. It will be gossiped about by netizens on the Star Network for a few days and then there will be no movement. It can't even be accessed on the Empire News Network, so it won't cause any waves."

Lu Zhao frowned.

"The recording is defective. Send it to Situ to see if it can be repaired," Bai Li stuffed the little white ball aside, "Some information needs to be used at the right time, and now is not the time."

Timing is like a broken ribbon. If you seize the right opportunity, a blunt knife can cut off two taels of meat.

Bai Li thought of Tang Xiao's face like an old noble, and the bruises on Bai Ying's arms, and the suppressed anger in his heart was surging again and wanted to be stirred up.

After marking, Lu Zhao was more sensitive to Bai Li's emotional changes. His lips moved, but he couldn't find words to comfort him, so he could only say stiffly: "What's the matter, I'll help you."

Bai Li turned his head and saw Lu Zhao's eyes. His hand held Bai Li's hand, a little tightly.

This is because he feels sorry for me, Bai Li thought, it's terrible.

This person who only has mechas and the universe in his eyes, now only has him, Young Master Bai, in his eyes.

Lu Zhao's personal terminal on the table rang a few times.

Lu Zhao patted Bai Li, turned around and opened the personal terminal, without avoiding Bai Li.

On the virtual screen in the air, Huo Cun sent a text message: Major General, where are you now? !

Before Lu Zhao could reply, Huo Cun’s next text message popped up: Big news! The Marshal came to the army today, and at noon, Lieutenant General Jiang and the others were called to a meeting!

Lu Zhao and Bai Li looked at each other, each with a bewildered expression.

Huo Cun: I heard that it was because there was an inside story about the rescue mission that year, and the Internet was all over it, which attracted the attention of the military and the royal family, and it was suppressing all kinds of news!

The scene of Lu Zhao putting the Kali flower on Bai Li on the Emerald Star cruise ship was posted on the Internet. After a day and two nights of fermentation, the matter has spread from the discussion surrounding Lu Zhao and Bai Li to a deeper level of discussion.

As Bai Li’s personal achievements and the rescue mission that year were dug deeper, the discussion among the citizens of the empire became more intense.

What happened to Bai Li, who went from being a major general to quitting the military? Why has the government never responded? Is there any inside information behind the mission failure? What kind of inside information could cause a young nobleman to fall silently? Does this matter involve higher-level people?

The voices of discussion are getting louder and louder. Among the countless discussions, there are doubts and ridicules, anger and wait-and-see attitudes. However, the citizens' doubts and opinions seem to have finally broken through an invisible barrier. They speak out fiercely, demanding an official response and condemning the cover-up and misleading of the unscrupulous media.

Among those who spoke out, retired veterans and military families raised questions in their personal capacity: Our children, our partners, our parents, they entered the military, drove mechas, expanded the empire's territory, fought and shed blood for the empire, is it because they can't even get a positive explanation like Major General Bai? The royal family

was shocked, and comments about this matter were deleted in large numbers, but this move was like pouring a pot of hot oil on the heads of citizens who had already ignited flames. There was

a sound of "ripping", and the oil poured on the fire.

Not only Bai Li, more such incidents began to be exposed and made headlines on major social platforms overnight.

Some things are like an ant. It hit the tree, but the tree did not shake.

But the tree never knows whether one of the ants that keep hitting the tree will eventually shake it.

The foundation laid by generations has finally shown some results today. The royal family no longer has the monopoly it once had, and the military has long been tired of the nobles who are constantly stuffed into the military. The military rectification plan that has been proposed since the marshal took office has been brought to the table again.

Public opinion is like a sharp sword, and today it will poke at the dark barrier above.

Lu Zhao and Bai Li sat on the sofa in the apartment, silently browsing the information.

The picture of Lu Zhao wearing the cali flower for Bai Li appeared repeatedly under the citizen's blog account, with both opposing comments and positive comments.

Bai Li put down his personal terminal, stood up and stood in front of the French window of the apartment looking down.

Lu Zhao did not continue to watch. He leaned back on the sofa, was silent for a few seconds, and said: "Bai Li, what do you think?"

"It's nothing, there are so many things that are left unresolved," Bai Li said lightly, "maybe this one is not the only one."

He saw very clearly that public excitement is often only a matter of time. People have their own lives, and when the dark clouds are not pressing on their heads, they will always forget the existence of the dark clouds.

Most people's "justice" is only "justice when they have free time." When they have no time, this justice is also thrown behind their minds.

Bai Li never expected that anyone could pull him out of the quagmire. If

an ant wants to shake a tree, it must take the initiative to attack.

He looked out the window at the suspended cars and the busy crowds. Bai Li said, "But I think there might be a few more ants among these people."

Lu Zhao turned his head to look at him, and the sunlight outside the window gave Bai Li a warm outline.

Lu Zhao walked over and looked out the window with Bai Li.

This is the heart of the empire.

They are two ants in the heart.