Translated by Eve
Edited by serefina, Cat, Sora
In the eyes of Sui Yuan and 5237, Max's act of "losing control" to the point of hitting someone was just a weird way of "waging war in the name of a beauty" which he used as a pretext to warn his seemingly unfaithful lover, correct his bearing, and prevent him from engaging in a love affair. However, in the eyes of other people, it was something else. To them, this action of his was undoubtedly implying a political revolution, pushing a secret, long heated military agenda to the surface.
General Max was the Marshal's most cared for successor. He was naturally the poster boy of the military. Furthermore, the man that had been ruthlessly beaten in public by Max was someone who had innumerable subtle connections to the President. No one cared about who the first person to provoke the other was, or who the fault laid on. Everyone was waiting to see what the Marshal and the President would do.
Although the President had seemed to be the one who had withdrawn on the surface, sending the man who had been hit to Max's home to apologize, the successive assignments that occurred afterwards showed that the president could no longer endure the growing arrogance of the military.
Despite the the federal constitution stating that the military was under the government's command and that the Marshal's position was below that of the President, in the wake of the numerous conflicts between the Federation and the Alien races, as well as the advancements of mecha technology, the prestige of the army increased amongst the younger generations with each day. It was to the extent that many young mermen revered and longed for the Marshal, the General, and even high level mecha pilots. On the other hand, they knew next to nothing about their Federation's President.
With how the military's authority seriously affected political circles, how could the politicians led by the President tolerate it?!
Of course, the growing friction between the military and political circles had nothing to do with Sui Yuan at the time. He only perceived that Dima grew increasingly busy. Dima's face became more exhausted and more pale— but most importantly, he had no more free time to come and tease him. Towards this matter, Sui Yuan could only say that he rather liked it.
During the period in which Sui Yuan went along with Ya's project, the seemingly quiet Max was working hard to advance the main plot. This was because it would shorten both the period of time during which Sui Yuan would nominally belong to someone else, and also the duration in which he himself would be unable to lay his hands on Sui Yuan.
Perhaps, he was also aiming to make sure that Dima, who was entangled with emotional struggles, was so busy that he had no time to think any further. This was so that Dima would not suddenly overcome his feelings, which would thus ruin Max's plan.
"Say, do you think Max and Dima came across any problems? It's already so late……" Ya scrunched up his design with dissatisfaction and threw it into the nearby trash can. Then, he watched helplessly as the scrunched up wad of paper hit the rim before falling onto the ground, only to be conscientiously picked up by the domestic robot.
"I don't know….." Sui Yuan laid on his stomach at the poolside with a pair of misty eyes that were full of worry. He was sobbing, looking particularly fragile and pitiful.
Immediately, Ya realized that he had found the wrong person to chat with.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have spoken like that. They definitely don't have any problems," Ya promptly flashed him a smile and switched to a placating tone. He raised a hand to stroke Sui Yuan's long hair.
Starting tonight, Max and Dima both had gone out on a mission. As such, Sui Yuan had been taken to Max and Ya's residence to accompany Ya again. Very soon, the night had gradually passed and the dawn was about to arrive. The two mermen, who had long perceived that this period would not pass by in tranquility, had been unable to sleep. Their hearts became increasingly anxious as the time for which the two men had agreed to return passed.
"Right, Dima and Max will definitely come back safe and sound….." Sui Yuan nodded his head, voice choked with emotion. He buried his head into his arms. Feeling a bit apologetic, he allowed a bewildered Ya to coax him, as he was trembling slightly from beginning to end.
Sui Yuan wasn't worried — of course he wouldn't be worried– as Max was a veteran actor who had experienced an innumerable number of worlds. He also had this world's protagonist halo, so before the story ends, no matter who were to die, he would not be one of them. Of course, even if he were to die, Max would definitely wait for him in the space between worlds. Then, they'd enter the next world together.
In this way, the person who had originally been an existence that he couldn't wait to get rid of unconsciously became an existence that made him feel safe. Sui Yuan decided to firmly bury this change into the depths of his heart and absolutely would not let 5237 notice it.
"……Hey, why are you looking at me like that? I feel a bit uneasy…" After being baptized by Sui Yuan's side gaze for a period of time, 5237 immediately became vigilant as the other's eyes were full of apology.
"……You think too much," Sui Yuan calmy averted his gaze, appearing especially upright.
5237 shook, feeling his uneasiness deepen, as if there was something that had spiraled out of his control.
—-Fine, it seemed that since he had partnered up with Sui Yuan, nothing had ever been within his control again. Upon thinking of this miserable fact, 5237 immediately calmed down, and treated his ominous premonition as an illusion before decisively throwing it to the side.
Sui Yuan simultaneously responded to Ya's comfort while tricking 5237 on the side. It was only after Sui Yuan, who still had his head buried in his arms, had yawned for the 28th time that the front door finally sounded.
Ya, who had been sitting in his merman car all this time, immediately reacted. He discarded Sui Yuan impatiently and drove his merman car to the front entrance. Sui Yuan, on the other hand, stayed in the pool, flopping his tail down twice as if slacking on the job…
"Max! Dima! You guys are hurt! How did this happen?!" Accompanying the whirl of the merman car was the sudden echo of Ya's shaky, incredulous voice. Soon after came the sound of a low male's voice giving out a hasty explanation, as well as a groan of pain.
Sui Yuan calmly skimmed through the plot and then used both of his arms to support himself on the pool's edge. He loudly cried out his own lines in fright: "Dima! Dima!"
A clear, tender and young voice filled with terror was heard by everyone at the front entrance. It sounded like he was so anguished that he was crying tears of blood as red as azaleas. Very quickly, the sounds of heavy but rapid footsteps could be heard, going from the main entrance to the pool. Sui Yuan, who was completely immersed in emotion, raised his head and stretched out his hand towards the incoming person, sparkling teardrops rolling down his face. Then, Sui Yuan, who had just been about to say his lines with great emotion and tear-stained cheeks, suddenly froze.
Max quickly ran to Sui Yuan's side, kneeling down to pull him into his arms. He looked solemn and his eyes were especially filled with discontent: "What are you acting so seriously for? Don't tell me you still want to "reignite the old flame" between the two of you?"
Sui Yuan, the dedicated actor, choked and silently swallowed down his lines. He broke out of character and looked at him with an especially resentful gaze: "Why is it you? Shouldn't you be heavily injured?"
"The one who is heavily injured is now Dima," Max nonchalantly expressed his disregard towards the plot, "Didn't you already know that I had planned to transfer all of my scenes to him?"
Sui Yuan didn't know just how many times he'd been surprised by the extent of his pig teammate's shamelessness. Therefore, he understood that words were useless and only retaliated by slapping the wound on Max's arm while raising his eyebrow in disapproval.
The two out-of-character members of this actor team "greeted" one another in this manner. Then, they simultaneously went into character as they entered the room where Ya and Dima were.
Sui Yuan, who hadn't been able to use his tears, immediately put them into use. He cried 'ying ying ying' as he tried to struggle out of Max's arms and reach Dima. In the end, he was prevented from doing so by Max and Ya.
"Dima's hurt. If you act like this, you'll only aggravate his injury,"
Ya quickly calmed down once he had learned that Dima's life was not in danger. He softly dissuaded Sui Yuan. Furthermore, Max's action expressed even more clearly that he did not want to let Sui Yuan and Dima have any physical contact whatsoever.
"Don't fret, Lan. I'm fine. This kind of injury will get better really quickly," he placated. Dima's face was pale as he laid on the bed in the guestroom, resisting his exhaustion with great difficulty. This helped gradually calm down the hysterical merman.
Comparisons were both good and bad. Compared to Sui Yuan, who could only sob inconveniently, the cool-headed but gentle Ya was much more preferable.
The doctor, who had just helped Dima wrap up his wound, looked at Ya appreciatively. He also looked at Ya's mate, Max, in envy. After working for a while longer, his gaze revealed a bit of suspicions.
On one side, there was Ya who was worriedly doing all he could to take care of Dima. There was clearly a tacit understanding between the two. On the other side, there was Max who was gently caressing the blue merman in his arms while silently comforting him— In the end, just who was a couple with who? The military doctor, who had never before doubted who General Max's mate was, was left dumbfounded. As such, he decided that he would go back and look through the files.
Since the injury this time was not one that should be made known to the masses, and also because the opponent's strength this time was rather considerable, Dima ended up staying at Max's to recuperate at the latter's request.
Of course, the most important reason for Max's request was so that Sui Yuan could justifiably stay over as well.
Max was busy with work, and Sui Yuan, aside from crying, was unable to bear any heavy responsibilities. Thus, the task of taking care of the injured Dima once again fell upon Ya's shoulders. Sui Yuan looked at the vigorously growing feelings between the two people— with one being taken care of, and the other doing the caring— and felt especially worried.
——"Aside from getting injured, there's only getting injured! Aren't there any other good plot devices?!"
—–"Of course there are, my dear, only they're not occuring now. Moreover, this was arranged by the original story. It has nothing to do with me — I just changed the role of the injured party."
Sui Yuan was forcibly trapped by Max, out of sight. He heard the quiet laughter of Ya and Dima, who were practically in reach. He felt particularly ashamed, and struggled even harder.
"My dear, you don't want to squirm around too much. I'm all worked up now. What should I do?" Max, who had been silently enduring all along, whispered. He appeared especially dangerous.
Sui Yuan stiffened, and felt that his hole down below was being fondled suggestively. Immediately, he came to hate this merman body that was useless out of water.
"Do you want to give it a try? I heard that a merman's body is even more suitable than a sub-beastman's to make love to," Max quietly laughed bewitchingly.
The hair on Sui Yuan's body all stood up, and he repeatedly shook his head. Although 5237 had already explained to him sex was typically regarded as something shameful, however, after being compelled by Max several times to taste its sweetness, he actually was not at all repelled by it. Only……as a supporting male lead, to make love with the protagonist was something he really shouldn't do. Sui Yuan, you better quickly wake up! QAQ
"Fine, since your most recent performance has been good, I won't frighten you anymore," Max pulled on Sui Yuan's hand with a smile, and placed it atop of that place that was already scorching hot. Soon after, he held Sui Yuan in his arms and turned around to leave, "Although we will have time to try it out someday, however it's truly a pity that now isn't the time."
Having temporarily passed this crisis, Sui Yuan did not know how many times he had no choice but to sacrifice his own two hands for the sake of protecting his chastity in this world.
The feeling of participating in a clandestine love affair was very stimulating, but the fear of being caught by other people made people scared witless. Sui Yuan didn't know whether he should hope that this period of time would pass by quickly, or if he should worry that he would later be pushed down embarrassingly onto the bed by a Max who was free from all restrictions.
"Are you feeling both anticipation and worry?" 5237, who had misunderstood (?) Sui Yuan's tangled feelings, floated wobbly by the two people's bodies, following their steps like a shadow.
Having previously experienced the affections of the two people many times before, 5237 had already slowly transformed from an innocent system that wanted to avoid this, into one that watched this kind of violent porn. Now, thinking back on it, it could not help but want to light incense for his previously pure and naive self.
"After you've tried it out, tell me how it felt. I want to update the database," The once pure and naive 5237 cheerfully put forth his request.
"What do you plan to do by storing this kind of thing in your database?!" Sui Yuan was simply shocked beyond words, "Save useful things instead!"
"I also used to think that this kind of thing was useless, so I basically did not collect this kind of material," 5237 appeared very wronged, "However, you completely overturned my previous opinion!"
Sui Yuan silently burrowed his head into the crook of Max's neck, feeling that he was grounded into a paste by 5237's immense malice until he had a face covered with blood.
—-Life is hard as it is; don't burst my bubble!
The author has something to say: Long time no see** I feel very strange again. Can anyone tell me what afforestation and nutrient solutions are? What does it mean!?
Eve: One more chapter to go before the arc ends~