Avid was a person who had trouble waking up.

Having finally gotten a day off and gone to bed early, he was almost completely devastated when he was woken up.

Especially when he found out that he was woken up in the middle of the night just because his dear brother wanted to brand his little slave with a new type of material.

Avid: "..." How can I suddenly want to kill my brother.

He didn't know if his brother was self-aware, but his appearance was really filled with a kind of... muddled aura.

However, Audrose dispelled his dissatisfaction with just one sentence: "The mecha from yesterday, I'll reimburse you for it."

"...Okay, brother." Thinking of his mecha with two broken legs, Avid paused for a few seconds, then answered spiritedly: "I'll go to the research institute right away, brother."

Audrose said, "Bring a new set of manual tools, the ones that make the smallest incisions."

"What?" Avid put on his coat and raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You're going to do it yourself?"

"Mm." Audrose added, "Also long-acting local anesthetics, the longest ones that don't damage the nervous system, 48 hours now?"

"Mm-hmm, yeah." Avid said, "If you use the set with the smallest incisions, there's basically no pain within 8 hours."

Audrose said steadily, "His body is rather weak."

Avid: "..."

Avid said tactfully, "Okay, I understand, brother. 48-hour local anesthetics, please wait at home for forty minutes."

Because the new materials were still semi-confidential results, the highest quality batch of samples were all stored in the high-level encrypted room below, and only senior researchers and above had the authority to apply for their use, so the process was a bit troublesome.

Forty minutes later, Avid, who had gone to the research institute to get the materials and tools, stopped the hovercraft at his brother's doorstep on time, and then the invisible protective shield above the mansion opened, and the hovercraft slowly drove into the loading dock in the backyard.

Audrose was already waiting for him there, wearing very homely clothes, his golden, shoulder-length hair tied up less neatly than usual, with a few strands of fine golden hair hanging over his forehead, making his eyebrows and eyes look much softer.

...It was clear he had just gotten out of bed.

Avid jumped down from the hovercraft, looked him up and down, and his emerald green eyes showed a hint of ambiguity, "Brother, you have such a casual side too..."

Audrose was unmoved, "Where's the stuff?"

Avid handed the box in his hand over, "It's all here, check it out."

As Audrose opened the box to check the contents, Avid suddenly leaned over and asked abruptly in his ear, "Has brother already eaten the person up?"

Audrose glanced at him coldly, too lazy to even bother.

Seeing his calm appearance, Avid couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly. He had originally just wanted to be cheeky as usual to see Audrose's reaction.

Although he might get hit, his brother's reaction last time was really... unusually interesting.

Anyway - he didn't believe that in just one day, his dull brother could devour the person so quickly.

But looking at this composed appearance... could it be that he really ate him?

Avid looked for a long time, but couldn't find any evidence on his brother's cold face, so he had to give up suspiciously.

Then he brought up the main topic, "Is brother planning to take that black-haired slave to the frontier?"

Audrose grunted and asked, "Did the research institute send out a notice?"

Avid snorted, "Yeah, for the expansion of the defense line, we have to send some researchers to provide military support, doing research and serving as military doctors at the same time, times are really tough..."

Audrose heard his unspoken meaning and asked, "You submitted an application?"

Avid rubbed his fingertips and said righteously, "Didn't brother want me to go temper myself in the military? Of course I volunteered to sign up!"

Audrose pointed out very uncooperatively, "I told you to go be a soldier, not to temper yourself as a military doctor attached to the troops."

"..." Avid coughed lightly and said solemnly, "Don't mind these details."

After checking the items in the box, Audrose closed the cold box. He glanced at his brother, who still seemed to be there, and his ice-blue eyes, which seemed a bit deep in the night, took on a hint of seriousness, "I hope you understand what you're doing."

In this era where the war was not expected to stop in the short term, imperial power was tied to military power. If Avid left a fixed impression of "doctor" on the frontier troops, it would be very difficult to change that impression later.

Undoubtedly, it was another step further away from the throne.

Although the throne was hereditary and could be designated by the emperor with full authority, in reality, as long as the emperor had a brain, to a large extent, he had to take into account the intentions of the parliament, the military, and the people.

Avid said without blinking an eye, "To be an excellent battlefield medical worker... and a part-time noble researcher!"

Audrose had a headache. "There's still one night and one day, go back and think it over carefully."

Avid probably didn't want to continue this topic anymore. Upon hearing this, he immediately jumped onto the hovercraft as if he had been granted amnesty, like a rabbit.

But he was still reminded, "...Reimburse the mecha."

Audrose simply opened his personal terminal and transferred 50 million star coins over.

Avid glanced at the new account balance and instantly narrowed his eyes in happiness.

The price of an advanced mecha was generally around 30 million, and this was almost double that.

Avid took it without any guilt and said happily, "I'm off, see you tomorrow, brother."

Audrose: "..."

He watched the hovercraft disappear into the air, shook his head slightly, then took the toolbox in his hand and returned to the bedroom.

Su Duan was curled up on the bed as quiet as a chicken, looking at the cold metal box in his hand very timidly, his whole body tense down to his hair.

"..." Audrose dug the person out of the bed and coaxed him, "It won't hurt, there's anesthesia."

Su Duan still didn't relax, tugging at the hem of his clothes and rubbing his head against his shoulder for a long time before saying softly, "Come on then."

It's just that even though he said that, the hand clutching the hem of his clothes still didn't let go.

Audrose gently patted his back, feeling a bit distressed and helpless, softly reassuring him: "It's okay, it really doesn't hurt, just a few minutes, if it hurts you can bite me, okay?"

After coaxing him in his arms for a long time, the little slave finally let go of his grip on Audrose's clothes, and rolled up his sleeves as if he was facing death, exposing most of his fair and slender arm, "...Come on!"

Audrose's gaze lingered on the delicate skin for a moment, but he said, "I won't brand it here."

Su Duan's eyes, which were only slightly open, widened in a daze and asked, "Then where will you brand it?" He remembered that those slaves all had their brands on their arms.

Audrose lifted a corner of his soft top, and pointed with his fingertip to the tender flesh on the waist, a little inside the hipbone. His ice-blue eyes seemed to deepen a shade as he said in a hoarse voice, "...Here."

The 48-hour anesthetic could ensure absolutely no pain, so branding it in a more hidden position... should not be a problem.

"The material identification is done by the detector, so it doesn't matter where it's branded. Branding it in a more hidden position can also prevent others from seeing it."

It sounded quite reasonable... Su Duan thought in a daze.

He said softly, "Then... let's do it here."

Su Duan was laid flat on the bed by Audrose, his hands curled up on his chest like a hamster, his eyes tightly closed.

After a slight stinging sensation like a mosquito bite, the right side of his waist quickly lost feeling.

Because he was too nervous, he couldn't even sense the flow of time. Su Duan could only feel the man's arm occasionally brushing against the skin that still had sensation, causing a warm shiver.

Su Duan opened his eyes a tiny slit. The man had his back arched very low. Because of his lowered head, some of his light golden hair fell down, resting on his slightly curled lashes. Further down were his sleeves rolled up to the upper arms. The skin underneath was very fair, showing some taut veins due to exertion, looking very explosive.

Su Duan was stunned by the beauty for a second, then remembered the matter at hand and asked softly, "...Has it started?"

Audrose moved his arm and paused for a moment before saying, "It's over."

Su Duan: "..."

It ended just like that, inexplicably making him feel a sense of loss. He had bought five bottles of painkillers, but hadn't even used one bottle so far.

Su Duan secretly said in his heart, "System, put away the painkillers."

System: "Okay, host."

Su Duan wanted to sit up and look at the freshly branded mark on his body, but as soon as he moved, he was pressed down by a powerful palm on his waist, instantly unable to move like an innocent overturned turtle.

Audrose said, "Wait, let me finish applying the medicine for you."

After waiting for another three minutes, Audrose let him sit up.

Su Duan pulled his clothes with his hand and curiously lowered his head to look at the area that still had no feeling.

Audrose had sprayed him with a healing solution, so the wound had basically healed, and even the redness and swelling were not visible. The shape of the brand could be clearly seen.

Very unexpectedly, the shape of this brand was not the same iris flower as on the other slaves he had seen before, but a somewhat strange mark.

A round, flat oval shape with two curved little leaves on top.

Wasn't this—

His original form?

How could Audrose have known?

Su Duan's eyes instantly widened, almost thinking he was hallucinating.

After a long while, he raised his head and looked at the man in front of him in a daze, not sure if he was apprehensive or what, and stammered, "...Why, why did you, did you draw this?"

Audrose kissed his forehead, his ice-blue eyes also seeming to hold a hint of confusion, and whispered in his ear, "I don't know either... but when I started, it just appeared like that."

This was a strange plant that had appeared in his dreams before. Because that dream was a bit too bizarre, Audrose had a deep impression of it.

Just now when he started, he didn't know what came over him. Suddenly, he uncontrollably drew that plant, only coming back to his senses after finishing it.

To be honest, this thing actually looked a bit ugly when drawn out. He didn't know if the little slave would be unhappy because of it.

But to his surprise, not only did the little slave not dislike the strange plant he drew for being ugly, he even happily threw his arms around Audrose's neck and even took the initiative to touch his soft lips to the corner of Audrose's mouth, his eyes shining like they held little stars: "Thank you, I love it."