Little Pink Starfish

At this moment, Qi Guanrui took advantage of his confinement in the dark little room to carefully recall the plot of this world and the main characters involved.

—Based on his experience from the previous worlds, he knew well that each time his gege transmigrated into a new body, it was always someone who had some connection to the protagonist and shared similar personality traits.
Moreover, that person was… as his gege once said, usually a “cannon fodder.”

Originally, Qi Guanrui had no interest in plots, but if they helped him locate his gege, what did it matter?
He was more than willing to bear the boredom.

One scene after another flashed rapidly in his mind.

Come to think of it, the vessel he took over—Fang Yuan—because his background was particularly similar to that of the protagonist shou, ended up forming a bond with the protagonist after a chance encounter.
They sympathized with each other, and gradually Fang Yuan grew more invested in helping the protagonist.
Later on, he even tried to overcome his cowardly nature to compete with his alpha younger brother for family power in an attempt to rise up.
But in the end…

Qi Guanrui let out a soft scoff.
This wasn’t the first time he’d seized the body of one of these so-called “supporting characters.”
But to him, no such plotline could ever dictate how he acted.

Brushing aside the vessel’s original plotline, Qi Guanrui’s focus zeroed in on everyone who had crossed paths with the protagonist shou.

Not this one.
Not this one either.
Still not him…

Finally, Qi Guanrui stopped his memory search.
Wait a minute.
General Liu Rufeng?
A… beta?

If nothing unexpected happened, then this person, whose personality was somewhat similar to gege’s and who had no burdensome status, was likely the one gege had possessed.

Strangely, at that moment, Qi Guanrui felt a hint of disappointment.

Why… wasn’t gege an omega?
If gege were an omega… wouldn’t that mean he could mark him—inside and out—so thoroughly that no matter where he went, the scent would linger?

That way, no matter where gege went, everyone would know—
He belonged to him, and only him.

With that thought buried deep inside, Qi Guanrui turned his attention back to everything related to Liu Rufeng.

And the more he watched… the more he saw… until he reached the end of the story…
The corners of his mouth curled into an extremely gentle smile.

How wonderful.
That twist at the end…

Gege really was always destined to be his.
Every inch, every fiber, inside and out—belonged to him.

Now, Qi Guanrui only had one problem left to consider.
He needed to get close to this General Liu Rufeng.
Ideally… to become one of his personal guards.

Digging through the memories of the vessel again, Qi Guanrui finally found a useful piece of information.
For instance, Liu Rufeng was currently on vacation.
And every time he took time off, he’d use that opportunity to scout for talent to add to his guard, putting them through rigorous trials before accepting them as his trusted men.

This, without a doubt, was the perfect opportunity.

Qi Guanrui licked his lips.
He absolutely could not miss this.

---

Normally, confinement only lasted a few days.
Fang Yuan was still the eldest son of the duke’s family, and even as a beta, he couldn’t be abused too blatantly.
If anything exceeded acceptable limits, it’d hand political enemies the perfect excuse to attack.

Even the towering, domineering beta stepmother wouldn’t dare to overdo it.
There were plenty of chances to scheme against Fang Yuan in the future—no need to rush.

But that stepmother could never have imagined—
The person she believed to be useless mud that couldn’t stick to the wall had already been taken over by an entirely different soul.
After this confinement, she would never again have the opportunity to harm her stepson.

On the day the heavy punishment door opened, golden sunlight spilled into the dark chamber through the narrow alley outside.

A person stepped out from within, his face calm, eyes lowered.
He looked the same as always—no longer the child who used to scream and cry.
This time, he was especially silent.

Madam Fang waited outside like the most loving stepmother in the world.
With a voice full of false concern, she said,
“Xiao Yuan, are you alright? Don’t blame your father—he just wants the best for you.”

Routine pleasantries.
Seemingly caring, but laced with ridicule.
Subtly reinforcing in the eyes of onlookers that the duke’s eldest son was just a helpless, pitiful failure.

Madam Fang was very proud.
Plenty of betas could be kept as personal lovers…
But how many had become the official wife, the second duchess?
She’d raised her son into a dominant alpha, one who’d soon become the true heir.
Not long from now, she’d truly be a woman second only to the duke in the entire house.

And Fang Yuan?

Just a stepping stone under her son’s feet.
So tragic.
So pitiful.

She couldn’t wait to see the numb, hopeless look in that boy’s eyes again.

Then the supposedly numb and hopeless duke’s eldest son lifted his gaze.

In that instant, Madam Fang met his eyes.

Fang Yuan spoke softly,
“Thank you for your concern, Madam. How could I ever blame Father?”

It sounded fine on the surface.
Nothing wrong with the words.

But for some reason, Madam Fang shivered uncontrollably.

Even when her stepson politely bid her farewell and walked off calmly—
She stood frozen, unable to snap out of it.

Did she… miss something?
No.
It must’ve been her imagination.

---

Gu Bai stared blankly at the stack of files in front of him, soul crushed.

Why, why, why—wasn’t I supposed to be on vacation? Why is there still so much paperwork?!

I’m just a tourist in this world! Don’t treat me like a real overworked general, okay?!

The adjutant beside him bowed respectfully:
“General! These are the applicant files submitted today for the personal guard selection. Please review and conduct the initial screening!”

Gu Bai: “…”

What?
Personal guard?

Oh right.
He remembered now.

The original host always used breaks to recruit new guards.
Because his unit often saw heavy combat, casualties weren’t uncommon—but benefits were good, and surviving veterans rarely stole credit.
So many still volunteered.

Well, it was time.
Might as well follow through.

He nodded and waved his hand, beginning to go through the files.

With no interest in complicated political connections or interpersonal drama, Gu Bai decisively and efficiently eliminated all alphas.
He only kept non-only-child betas.

After all, alphas were rare and sensitive—if one died on the battlefield, drama would follow.
But betas?
Plentiful.
So long as they weren’t an only child, nobody would bat an eye.

Gu Bai was great at adapting to local customs.
He had no stake in this world’s politics or social reforms.
When in Rome, follow Roman rules.
As long as it didn’t threaten his life, he was very obedient to local standards!

Even though…
He always seemed to be carrying around someone very disobedient.

Ahaha.

---

Once the first selection was done, Gu Bai waited for the beta candidates to arrive.

The selection process followed the original host’s established procedures:

• Physical ability test
• Skill evaluation
• Loyalty to the Federation
• And of course, loyalty to him

His adjutant managed all of it.

After a while, the adjutant returned.
Gu Bai turned and asked, “How is it?”

With a crisp salute, the adjutant replied,
“Reporting, General! We’ve found some excellent candidates. Would you like to interview them?”

Ugh. I’d rather not. Can’t you just add them to the reserve guard for me already?

But no.
According to the original’s habits, he had to meet them personally.

Face neutral, Gu Bai nodded.
“Bring them in.”

The adjutant: “Yes, General!”

A minute later, a group of agile, athletic betas marched in.
Though their pheromones weren’t released, they otherwise looked just like alphas—maybe just a tad shorter on average.
Which for men… yeah, that hurt.

Gu Bai sighed inwardly.
Like himself—he hadn’t even hit 180 cm in this body.
Tragic.

As the betas lined up, their gazes were full of admiration, reverence, and devotion.
Eager to serve.
No arrogance.
No resentment.

But.

Gu Bai spotted one gaze that stood out.

That look…
Overflowing with joy.
Burning with possessiveness.
Drenched in twisted, tender affection.

Oh fuck.
I don’t even need to open my eyes to know who that is!

Gu Bai’s dead-fish eyes locked onto the culprit.

That person…
Smiled at him.
So. Very. Gently.

Gu Bai: “……”

Ha… HAHAHA you damn pervert—YOU’RE A BETA THIS TIME?!
This joy of narrowly dodging disaster!!