Everyone's playing Red Giant? I, Black Hole, devour everything!

Lu Xuejian's lips trembled slightly.

"What should I do then?"

Su Li smiled and whispered a few words in her ear.

Lu Xuejian's face turned red from her ears to her neck at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I...I dare not..."

"What's there to be afraid of?" Su Li patted the back of her hand. "I've already tried it for you, and it feels amazing!"

Lu Xuejian's face burned even hotter at her words: "Stop talking!"

"Okay, okay, I won't say anymore." Su Li laughed and leaned back on the bed. "But this is a rare opportunity. The two-week rest period is almost over. When the war starts again, he will definitely be hiding in the observation chamber for another month."

"If you don't act now, you'll have to wait for the next break—who knows when that will be?"

Lu Xuejian lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

After a long while, she said in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible, "I understand."

……

The twelfth day of rest.

Lu Xuejian eventually came to find Lin Tian.

She stood at the door of Lin Tian's lounge, hesitated for a long time, then took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

The moment she pushed open the door, Lu Xuejian suddenly felt her mind go blank.

She had a lot of lines in mind and practiced them repeatedly for several nights, but when she actually faced this person, she realized that none of the lines she had rehearsed were useful.

She simply placed the water glass on his desk and then looked up at him.

"Lin Tian... I have something I want to tell you."

Lin Tian put down the battle report in his hand.

"you say."

"I..." Lu Xuejian felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

"……I like you."

She finally uttered those four words she had been holding back.

Lu Xuejian's eyes reddened; she felt she had finally done something brave.

In any case, at least there won't be any regrets, right?

Lin Tian slowly stood up.

He walked up to Lu Xuejian and, just like he had done to Su Li that day, gently pinched her chin and lifted it up, forcing her to look directly into his eyes.

"That's it? You think I need you to take this long to tell me this?" His voice was low, as if he were helpless, or as if he was suppressing something.

Lu Xuejian was stunned.

"You...you knew all along?"

"I'm not blind. Do you think you've hidden it well?"

Lu Xuejian's mind went blank for a moment.

He knew everything. He knew everything from beginning to end.

"Then why didn't you say so sooner?" Her voice finally began to tremble.

"I'm waiting for you," Lin Tian said, looking at her. "Waiting for you to be ready."

Lu Xuejian could no longer hold back.

"Then you don't need to wait anymore." She reached out to wipe away her tears, then stood on tiptoe and kissed him.

Her kiss was more clumsy and more cautious than Su Li's.

All the courage she had been gathering in the dead of night was poured into this kiss, little by little.

Lin Tian reached out and put his arm around her waist.

She felt a warm hand press against her back, which made her feel weak all over.

She had never known that being held by someone felt like this.

The kiss lasted a long time.

It was so long that Lu Xuejian was almost dizzy, but she still couldn't bear to let go.

"That's enough, that's enough." Lin Tian gently patted her back. "If you don't stop, your lips will be swollen tomorrow."

Lu Xuejian blushed and let go of his hand, but her gaze remained fixed on his face, unwilling to look away even for a moment.

"Su Li is right," she suddenly said softly.

"What did she say?"

"My first kiss...it felt amazing."

Looking at her honest and straightforward manner, Lin Tian felt both amused and sorry for her: "When did you two become so close?"

"It always has been." Lu Xuejian raised her head and looked at Lin Tian frankly. "She came to me and told me a lot. She said she didn't come to take you away from me, but to be with me."

Lin Tian couldn't help but laugh. Neither of these two women was normal!

"Alright," he whispered in her ear, "From today onwards, you are both mine, neither of you is any less than the other."

……

The days of rest and recuperation have slowly come to an end.

On the evening of the fourteenth day, Lin Tian was in his office having a remote meeting with the military to finalize the plan for advancing into the Seventh Star Region.

The battle lines on the sand table have been simulated dozens of times.

Every possible emergency has been marked with a contingency plan, and everyone's nerves are on high alert again.

Just then, an emergency communication with the highest level of encryption suddenly cut into the military's command channel.

"Urgent report at the highest level. All online generals, please receive this immediately."

The voice on the other end of the communication was that of Han Li, the director of the intelligence bureau.

His tone remained calm, but anyone could hear the underlying tension beneath that calmness.

"The special ship carrying the President of the United States has just entered the identification zone outside the first star sector."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire online meeting room fell silent.

"What did you say?" Zhou Zhenguo's voice rang out first, "The President of the United States? Coming to our First Star Sector?"

"Yes, there was no prior notice, no diplomatic filing, and not even the usual route declaration process." Han Li paused, "The other side's special ship is currently sailing at top speed and is about to reach the mainland of the Great Xia Kingdom."

"In the public channel they sent us, there was only one audio clip of the president of the United States himself."

He said, "Please have the Great Xia Kingdom receive us."

A deathly silence fell over the conference room.

Zhou Zhenguo was the first to break the silence.

"At this critical juncture, his uninvited arrival begs the question: is he here to negotiate—or to declare war?"

No one can answer this question.

But everyone knows one thing.

The president of the United States, a nation that has dominated battlefields around the world for over a century, is by no means someone who will bow his head.

Since he's here, there must be something more important than dignity that compels him to come in person.

Lin Tian's gaze fell on the newly updated blue coordinates above the overall military situation map.

The president's special ship is approaching the first star sector of the Great Xia Kingdom at an almost out-of-control speed.

With each jump of the coordinates, the distance gets closer.