Buy The Marshal Omega Chapter 13

Footprints Buried by Wind and Snow VII

The time spent huddled in the treatment pod felt endless. They were the most complete of strangers, yet they were engaged in the most intimate of acts, even completing a ritual that should only be performed by spouses.

The addiction brought about by hormonal control was difficult to master. Lu Rong swore this was a level of chaos and loss of control he had never experienced in his life—damp, dark, yet beautiful and eerie. He did not even know how many days this confusion had lasted.

When he woke up, he was lying on a bed.

They had left the treatment pod long ago. They had even showered midway through, and during the brief intervals between heats after the marking, they had gone to the dining area to eat, replenishing their energy and water before sinking back into the frenzy of the post-marking estrus.

Lu Rong stood up, pulled a set of clothes from the room’s wardrobe, and put them on. After confirming that there was truly no one else in the room, he began to search for X01.

X01 had decisively chosen to enter standby mode for charging the moment he realized something was amiss. He only started up sluggishly once Lu Rong began calling for him.

Lu Rong asked bluntly, Where did he go?

X01 fell silent for a moment, accessing the aircraft’s surveillance system once more. After a brief search, he also became puzzled. There is no one else on the aircraft. It looks like he went out; the last image is from one star hour ago.

Lu Rong threw on a coat. Then let us go take a look.

As he passed the table in the center of the room, Lu Rong noticed a cylindrical object sitting on the surface. Because the tabletop was quite empty, the object was particularly conspicuous. It looked somewhat similar to the device Feinier had used at the beginning to test their compatibility.

Lu Rong picked it up casually, glancing at it as he walked. What is this?

X01 scanned the item in Lu Rong’s hand. Oh, it is a puncture extractor, used for drawing gland secretions or blood. It appears to have been opened, but for some reason, it was not used.

A flash of inspiration struck Lu Rong’s mind. Check the logs for retrieved items.

After a quick search, X01 reported, Approximately two standard cosmic hours ago, someone took out this puncture extractor.

Two star hours was more than enough time to draw a full vial, yet for some reason, Feinier had not made a move against him.

Carrying this question, Lu Rong stepped off the aircraft.

The blizzard had already ceased. A trail of distant footprints remained on the snow. Lu Rong could still smell the faint scent of peppermint in the air—it was Feinier’s pheromones, tinged with the cold of falling snow, making one feel clear-headed.

After the marking, he had become exceptionally sensitive to the pheromones of the Omega he had marked.

Lu Rong followed the footprints forward, walking all the way into the woods after the snow. The place was incredibly quiet; the sound of small animals climbing trees in the forest seemed overly distinct, yet no human figure could be seen.

Eventually, the footprints became clearer and the scent of peppermint more pronounced. Lu Rong felt he was getting close, but he found himself standing at the edge of a cliff.

The cliff was not very high, perhaps about a dozen meters. Lu Rong looked down and saw Feinier fighting below. He had changed back into his white military uniform and held a shimmering white light blade, carving a bloody path through the surrounding crowd.

A considerable number of corpses had already piled up at his feet, yet he remained so clean, his white form dazzlingly bright.

Lu Rong did not rush down. He simply sat on the edge of the cliff to watch, and while he was at it, he opened the puncture extractor again and slowly pierced it into his own gland.

Lu Rong had never experienced the extraction of gland secretions before. On his first attempt, the pain made his expression shift. He remained expressionless, looking down at the scene of Feinier’s combat to distract himself.

By the time he had filled a vial, Feinier had also finished the battle. Having obtained a complete marking, the issues of his explosive heat were resolved; he was currently in peak condition, a man capable of slaying anyone in his path.

He stood atop the heap of corpses, let out a long sigh of relief, and looked up at Lu Rong sitting on the cliff.

Lu Rong inexplicably felt that Feinier seemed to be in a good mood, but Feinier paused and spoke: You should not have followed.

His attitude was not much different from their first meeting—a habitual pushback—but it was much gentler than that first time. It was as if the ice and snow had melted, revealing the new branches of a cypress tree.

Lu Rong did not speak. He tossed the vial of gland secretions down. Feinier caught it with precision, looked down at it for a long time, and remained silent. Just as Lu Rong thought he would not speak again, he looked up at Lu Rong once more, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

The two of them stared at each other in silence.

A cold wind blew through the valley, sweeping away the heavy clouds left after the blizzard. Feinier’s long white hair fluttered in the wind, and a ray of sunlight fell at his feet. It seemed that if he took one step forward, he could walk into a gentle spring day.

But he did not move forward, nor did he retreat. After maintaining that hesitant expression for a while, Feinier spoke again: I will not cause you any trouble. No one will know it was you who marked me. I will wash away the mark when the time is right.

It sounded like a solemn promise. Lu Rong did not say yes, nor did he say no, because he did not know how to answer.

He had already done everything he could.

For him, he had just ended a terrible wedding, only to turn around and mark a stranger Omega. Even if it was to save a life, it still completely deviated from his own sense of morality. It was so absurd that he could hardly imagine himself doing such a thing. Even though Yun Guang had already betrayed him, and even though he knew the moment the betrayal happened that his feelings for Yun Guang were over, he still could not help but feel a faint, wandering sense of guilt.

Perhaps it was toward himself, or perhaps toward his foster parents.

Receiving no response, Feinier said nothing more. His attitude toward Lu Rong had softened considerably. He tucked the gland secretions close to his body and looked up at the person on the cliff. Someone will come to fetch me. You can take the aircraft. This is all I can give you.

After saying this, Feinier gave Lu Rong no chance to reply. He turned and walked toward the depths of the valley with absolute finality.

Lu Rong sat on the cliff, basking in the sunlight for a while. The sun made him feel very warm.

The memories of the marking from the night before had not yet dissipated. Those dark fragments were like a precipice, completely severing his previous life from his current situation, giving him the sensation of being in a dream.

The dream was too absurd; he even wondered if he would suddenly wake up and find himself lying in the emergency room on Planet Astar.

But until the blizzard grew strong again in the distance, pressing toward the cliff at a leisurely pace, and until the sunlight on the cliff top vanished completely, Lu Rong was unable to wake from the dream. The sky grew dark, the wind and snow were imminent, and Lu Rong stood up to leave the cliff top.

By the time Lu Rong walked back to the aircraft, the blizzard had already followed his footsteps. The falling snow covered the path he had taken back, and the footprints Feinier had left were gone without a trace, as if such a person had never existed.

An encounter like the morning dew had turned into a string of footprints buried by wind and snow in the blink of an eye.

Lu Rong would often think back to the Feinier in the valley that day. Feinier’s departing back—upright and resolute—was framed by memory in his mind, to the point where he felt Feinier should stand straight in the distance like that, rather than being besieged, hung up, or lying in a treatment pod.

Perhaps this was the reason he always wanted to give Feinier a hand.

Mr. Lu, X01 said, what are you thinking about? I feel like you haven’t moved in a long time.

Lu Rong snapped back to reality and realized he had been sitting there staring for a long while. He simply put down the tweezers in his hand and stood up to look down at Feinier in the treatment pod. The wound on Feinier’s shoulder had not yet healed, and the treatment progress was very slow. He wondered when Feinier would open his eyes to look at him this time.

After resting for a bit, Lu Rong continued with the cleaning work in his hands.

This was perhaps the task that required the most patience and time he had ever done. It was easy to stick the biomimetic skin on, but removing it was not so simple. Furthermore, it was still attached to the scales. He had to first separate the scales from the biomimetic skin, remove the scales, and then peel off the skin to ensure the scales remained intact.

Feinier actually had no use for these scales anymore. If he could recover, he would surely grow new ones, but Lu Rong still carefully collected every single piece. He put all these scales into a glass jar. When placed on the bookshelf, they shimmered with a faint, translucent white light, looking like a jar full of stars.

It was two weeks later by the time Lu Rong had completely cleaned the prosthetics from Feinier’s tail. Feinier still showed no signs of waking up, but the wound on his collarbone had mostly healed, and his heart rate had risen to around 20 bpm. The deception device continued to operate, and the effect was better than imagined; in about three or four days, all the drugs could be completely flushed out.

The preparatory work for dismantling the prosthetics was also put on the agenda.

This was the most critical part. Shen Danshi was still responsible for the medical portion. Before officially beginning the dismantling, Shen Danshi performed another evaluation on Feinier. She was somewhat surprised herself; the Feathered Serpent’s condition was much better than expected, and there were indeed signs of recovery.

She recorded the monitored information one by one, then turned to ask Lu Rong: Does he have a name? I still have him listed as ‘Anonymous’ in his medical records.

Lu Rong was organizing the dismantling tools and did not look up. Call him Jin.

Shen Danshi wrote the name in the medical record and added: His condition is better than before. I’ve noted some minor injuries and other things in the records. I suggest you take a look when you have time; I believe there are some things in there you should know.

The medical records were updated in real-time on Lu Rong’s and Shen Danshi’s terminals. Lu Rong was about to check them after hearing this, but then he heard Shen Danshi say: I saw the prosthetic reconstruction diagrams on your desk. You know, I have a very strange thought. The person who did all this is likely a colleague of mine. His technique for separating nerves and the skeleton is far too professional. To be honest, although I’ve encountered some ‘Everlasting Flowers’ before, none were like this.

A technique like this requires not only an extremely professional surgeon but also a professional team. An average person couldn’t afford such an expense. Does this have anything to do with the Alliance? Shen Danshi could not help but ask.

There had long been rumors that Gourmet was involved with ‘Everlasting Flowers,’ but no one had ever caught him red-handed, so Gourmet had yet to face judgment in that regard.

Lu Rong leaned his hands on the table and looked at Shen Danshi. The Alliance’s ‘Wanderer’ turned him into this after interrogating him. Do you know this person?

Lu Rong’s understanding of the Empire and the Alliance had always been limited to the political and nominal levels—enough for him to analyze the situation, but not enough for gossip.

Shen Danshi thought for a moment. So it was him. He’s Gourmet’s lover, isn’t he? I heard he’s an ‘outsider.’

An outsider? Lu Rong looked at Shen Danshi, somewhat puzzled.

I only heard about it, Shen Danshi said with a relaxed smile. In her spare time, she often looked at gossip, and the story of Gourmet and ‘The Wanderer’ could be considered a hot topic.

She continued: Gourmet found him in a strange flight pod. The pod had no communication devices, and the energy inside was only enough to keep him alive for a month. Gourmet happened to find the pod just as the month was ending. There was a sentence marked on it: ‘The sinner took away our leader; exile is his deserved retribution.’

Shen Danshi spread her hands. He clearly committed a crime and was abandoned by his civilization, but he was saved by a new one. Gourmet took a liking to his face, so he kept him. I heard he also tried to help him find where he came from, but was unsuccessful.

Lu Rong toyed with a green plant nearby, lost in thought. This ‘Wanderer’s’ situation sounded somewhat similar to his own.

Shen Danshi looked at Lu Rong, intentionally or otherwise. What about you?

What? Lu Rong paused.

Shen Danshi crossed her arms, tilted her head, and pointed to the Feathered Serpent in the treatment pod. Her expression as she looked at Lu Rong was slightly teasing. Although not every Feathered Serpent is a royal descendant, the one you brought back… is simply too similar to the former Crown Prince Shaxi. I can’t help but wonder. You took this Feathered Serpent away from the old history; where do you plan to take him?

Lu Rong realized what she meant, cleared away his inner guilt, and gave a helpless smile. His gaze crossed the vast space to land on Feinier. Rest assured, he is not Shaxi. Just consider it… I simply want to know the location of a certain batch of star cores, and he holds some information.

Now it was Shen Danshi’s turn to smile helplessly. Fine, that is indeed your style. Why exactly are you so concerned about that batch of star cores?