Eternal damnation

Faced with the interrogation, Yu Chen actually relaxed his body.

“If you’re asking about my current mood, I am indeed very happy. But not because of the consequences of deceiving you, but because of the honesty you are showing me right now.”

From Yu Chen’s perspective, Bai Ling could have easily pretended not to know, used his guilt, taken revenge, or achieved other goals. But the stubborn little bird had chosen to be direct, to tear down the facade.

All Bai Ling wanted was an answer.

Yu Chen said, “I am indeed an alpha. But this does not pose a threat to you. Because you are strong enough, the A/O gender difference is not an issue for you.”

He isn’t wrong. Bai Ling glanced at him. Izsu Paraiso’s taste in partners was certainly unique.

Bai Ling only knew that the Old Emperor had many quirks, but he hadn’t expected that the guy was actually into A/A relationships?

Well, people at the pinnacle of power often had a screw loose. Finding a beautiful alpha to satisfy one’s boundless desire for conquest was indeed much more satisfying than marrying a soft, delicate omega.

If it were Bai Ling, he would have done the same!

Besides, the Old Emperor was a rotten merman. He was probably bizarre and ugly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have reigned for 127 years without ever showing his face in public.

There was a widely circulated story about this. It’s said that a national treasure-level painter, wanting to create a gift for the national celebration, had seen the Emperor in person and had immediately collapsed in fright. Afterward, he lost his mind, telling everyone he met, “I can’t believe it.” The painter remained mad for a year, submitted his work, and then announced his retirement from painting.

This incident had thoroughly cemented the rumor of the Old Emperor’s demonic appearance.

Therefore, this merman named Yu Chen must have been acquired by Izsu Paraiso to improve his offspring’s genes.

He just didn’t know if this guy could actually… bear children.

Bai Ling’s gaze flickered down to Yu Chen’s lower abdomen. All defined abs. He hadn’t felt any scars when he’d touched him before…

What nonsense is he thinking?

Bai Ling’s expression turned cold. He immediately pushed the thought away and regained his composure. Since the merman’s attitude of admitting fault was decent enough, he could give him a chance.

Of course, he would keep a firm grip on the gun in his hand.

Yu Chen carefully noticed the slight tremble of the gun barrel. He guessed Bai Ling’s hand was getting sore, and he was cautiously loosening his fingers one by one. Yu Chen suggested, “You can rest the barrel on my carotid artery. It’s just as threatening, and it will save you some effort.”

Bai Ling froze slightly, then let out an almost imperceptible cold snort. “This is the second time I’ve met such a cooperative captive.”

Yu Chen lifted his eyelids and suddenly asked, ”

Who was the first?”

Bai Ling pursed his lips. “Who else could it be? You, on the terrace.”

It was all me. Yu Chen couldn’t help but curve his eyes, a knowing smile appearing.

Bai Ling said coolly, “If you like honesty so much, then let’s each take a step back. We’ll ask each other three questions.”

Without waiting for Yu Chen to agree, he began. “First question: Is ‘Yu Chen’ really your name?”

He moved the gun, pressing it back into the hollow of Yu Chen’s neck.

The cold metal made Yu Chen flinch slightly, but he didn’t pull away. He answered smoothly, “It is my real name. More accurately, it’s the human name translated from the Merfolk language. My birth name was decided before I was born. It has sixty-three syllables. For a Merfolk, it’s a chant similar to a whale song. For ordinary humans, it would seem too long.”

“Hmph,” Bai Ling was somewhat satisfied. He considered for a moment, then posed his second question. “Kaide dislikes you and wants to force you to hand over the scepter. Why haven’t you found a way to leave this place?”

An unreadable emotion flashed in Yu Chen’s eyes.

Bai Ling thought he had imagined it. When he looked again, Yu Chen’s eyelids were slightly lowered, and he had a tired smile, “The ground beneath my feet is my homeland. The people walking beside me are my subjects. Where could I go that wouldn’t be self-deception? This is my country. Where else could I go? It makes no difference, wherever I go.”

Those few short sentences nearly made Bai Ling’s composure crumble.

His heart suddenly raced. He tightly pressed his lips together before falling silent. A strange, inexplicable feeling gripped his heart, a mixture of panic and unease, and perhaps a sense of trepidation at the thought of returning home.

He felt that if he continued asking questions, the understanding he had built for so long would be utterly destroyed…

Bai Ling turned his head away and his lower lip trembled even as he bit it with his teeth. He suddenly said, “I haven’t thought of the third question yet. I’ll ask next time.”

Yu Chen turned his unfocused pupils, seemingly sensing something. He only said, “Alright.”

Bai Ling asked again, “Do you have any questions for me?”

Yu Chen said, “I’ll also save mine for next time.”

Bai Ling’s lips slightly twitched, a mixture of sarcasm and indifference.

He wouldn’t tell Yu Chen that this was the last time. He wouldn’t be coming back.

So be it. He had confirmed his answer.

He lowered the gun and turned away without a glance back.

As he neared the door, the side bedroom door slid shut silently, locked tight. All in one smooth motion.

Bai Ling looked back, his exquisite face obscured in the shadow. He shot the merman a sideways glance, his tone laced with a dangerous threat. “Don’t make this ugly. Open the door.”

The merman ignored him. With a flick of his fingers, he pulled the black fountain pen from his shirt pocket.

Then, he emptied the ink and drew the sharp nib swiftly across his own wrist.

Bright, glistening drops of blood immediately beaded up.

The air quickly filled with a decadent, rich, woody fragrance, like a massive ship sunk beneath the sea, salvaged piece by piece after centuries. The damp masts mingled with the pungent sweetness of fermenting seaweed— eerie yet intoxicating.

This image inexplicably surfaced in Bai Ling’s mind.

He quickly realized that his developing glands now allowed him to faintly perceive alpha pheromones.

If he didn’t leave now, he could be affected, lose consciousness in the blink of an eye, follow his instincts, and cling to this bastard alpha like a bird with rickets!

The merman stood up silently.

Bai Ling’s eyelids trembled as his heart rate soaredpast 100.

He forced himself to stay calm, quickly taking in his surroundings. His brain rapidly calculated the optimal attack angle and escape route.

He had a weapon, but that didn’t mean he was arrogant enough to think he could overpower the merman’s terrifying physical strength.

Once his bullets ran out, he would be prey in the other’s mouth, flesh in his belly.

Bai Ling’s chest heaved. He couldn’t stop thinking about those two fingerprints pressed deep into his prosthesis.

Damn bastard merman!

Bai Ling squeezed the trigger hard, aiming every shot at the merman’s knees.

If he could just disable the man, even for ten seconds, it would be enough time to run into the bathroom, throw open the window, and escape.

However, the large fish, who had seemed docile and slow moments before, now moved with the fluid grace of an underwater phantom.

To the merman’s senses, the speed of the bullets was like arrows shot into water, constantly decelerating, slow enough to pluck from the air.

Bai Ling didn’t hit a single shot.

He cursed under his breath. Ignoring the man’s now gloomy expression, he dodged into the bathroom, kicked the door shut, and immediately lunged for the only escape window.

A Peregrine Falcon has SSS-grade agility.

Unfortunately, against a first-generation, pure-blood hybrid merman who had evolved for millennia, it still wasn’t enough.

Bai Ling quickly learned firsthand what it meant to be overpowered by sheer level difference.

The bathroom door slammed against the wall, loudly.

Bai Ling’s vision blurred. Before he could even see clearly, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder. A hand, with bulging veins, slammed down, pinning him—almost nailing him—to the wall.

The fight was over.

Bai Ling gave a bitter smile. The moment he had fired the gun, he had already accepted the possibility of being torn apart and turned into a specimen by the merman.

The merman’s pale, strong fingers closed on his chin again.

This time, there was none of the previous gentleness. Instead, almost impatiently, he used force, bringing something toward his mouth—

…Huh?

Bai Ling looked down, bewildered. The suddenly violent merman had caught him, but wasn’t crushing him like a chick. Instead, he was pressing his bleeding wrist firmly against Bai Ling’s lips.

“Drink.”

The merman’s voice was magnetic yet tired, and beneath it, a trace of almost imperceptible loneliness could be heard.

“You can leave and never come back. But my pheromone level is too high for you. Forcing withdrawal will harm your body.”

“You can drink my blood. Ingest enough pheromones from it to alleviate the addiction, then gradually reduce the amount over three months. Once your differentiation is complete, you can sever all ties with me.”

Bai Ling’s breath hitched for an instant. He quickly looked up at Yu Chen’s face, searching for any sign of a lie.

But there was nothing there except indifference and a deep weariness.

“Drink quickly. Don’t waste it.”

Those words seemed to hold some kind of magic.

Back when Bai Ling used to go to the milk truck, the robot would always remind everyone the same way: Drink it while it’s hot. Don’t waste it.

Perhaps it was because low-class strays like him could never bear to see a faucet left running, nor could they stand by and let precious, expensive, high-grade alpha blood drip onto the tiles, flow down the drain, and be lost.

So, as if possessed, he leaned in, pressed his lips close, glanced at the merman as flustered and cautious as if bestowing a kiss, and then licked the other’s burning blood, sipping carefully.

So strange…

How had things gotten to this point? What had he miscalculated?

Sweet, fresh blood flowed down Bai Ling’s throat. Legend said that Merfolk blood was a source of vitality, that it could be used in magic potions.

As he swallowed it, he did feel the aches in his body rapidly fade. But tasting it carefully, he detected a trace of sorrow on his tongue…

The wound began to heal. Seeing him hesitate, Yu Chen didn’t pause, simply making a new cut.

Bai Ling’s heart trembled watching him. He couldn’t help but say, “Stop. I’ve had enough.”

Yu Chen showed no expression, only instructing him, “From now on, just come get a dose of pheromone extract once a week. You don’t need to see me.”

The merman looked at him again. For a fleeting moment, that glance gave Bai Ling the illusion that the man wasn’t blind after all.

“You can go now.”

As promised, Yu Chen released him.

Bai Ling tentatively took two steps forward, then turned his head back, warily observing him.

The merman stood amidst the ruins, the bathroom’s cold light casting in him a long and distorted shadow.

He looked like a discarded, fallen statue, only standing there, with a weary and numb expression.

Bai Ling stepped over the broken door and out of the bathroom. The side bedroom door indeed slid open automatically.

Just two more steps, and he would be completely free, able to say goodbye forever to the merman who had deceived him.

But in that instant, an inexplicable emotion surged within him.

It was like Lot’s wife fleeing the wicked city of Sodom, hearing the low murmur of the city as it crackled and burned.

Bai Ling couldn’t stop himself from looking back.

In the Bible, Lot’s wife disobeyed the angel’s warning, looked back at the sinful city, and was turned into a pillar of salt, forever standing by the road.

And Bai Ling, looking back, witnessed the merman’s collapse, as he fainted and crashed. He froze instantly.

As Bai Ling’s body moved faster than his mind, rushing back into the bathroom, a thought whispered to him—

He was falling into the Devil’s vortex, forever condemned to damnation.

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Author has something to say:

Little Bird: Buddha offered his flesh to feed the eagle; the merman offers his blood to feed the bird (hugs daddy)

That last bit is from the story of Sodom in the Bible. Sodom was a city indulging in male affection, not shying away from same-sex love. God considered this sinful and sent angels to destroy it. The angels warned Lot and his family multiple times not to look back. But on the road to escape, Lot’s wife couldn’t resist looking back. This was interpreted as her longing for her sinful past, so she was punished by being turned into a pillar of salt, never to leave that place.

The general meaning is: Lock in!!

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M1zushi: while browsing through twitter I found this Bible quote which I think author used as the foundation of their worldbuilding

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)

Legend has it that four hundred years ago, the Merfolk wanted to lead Earth’s surviving creatures to establish a nation on this new planet. They asked every animal, but aside from the sea creatures, only the birds were willing to go with them.

The Merfolk had said, “There’s only ocean on this new planet. Will you be able to adapt?”

The birds had answered, “Our wings are strong. We can fly for a lifetime without landing.”

The Merfolk had asked, “And if you grow tired of flying?”

The birds had answered, “Then we will land on your shoulders, and we will multiply.”

That was why, to this day, the Empire’s hybrids were only of the Marine and Avian types, aptly named by other nations:

The Waterfowl Galaxy. (Chapter 4)

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What do we know about Bai Ling so far? “A genius pilot. The top ace of the Empire’s Outer Space Mecha Legion”, got framed by his superior, got tortured by the shock anklet, lost his legs, lost his opportunity to climb the social ladder (he’s an orphan who worked so hard to become the best even Young Master Sava, a person born in a military aristocratic family would’ve needed to call him Instructor as a term of address of respect),

In the sky, Rattlesnake spread its beautiful, streamlined wings, drawing a perfectly straight line across the night.

Bai Ling looked out at the curved horizon and the pleasant sound of the engine hummed in his ears. Everything felt so familiar, harmonious, and delightful.

This was the first time since his regression that he was flying free, looking down on the homeland that had once raised him.

It made him want to shout to the earth: I’m back! (Chapter 7)

You look at this and you can only see the yearning in Bai Ling’s eyes to go back to piloting a mecha. Avians are born to fly and mechas are basically an extension of their limbs. All his freedom got cut short because of alphas. And now we’re back to his second life. His friends and other omegas just went through a hunt bcs alphas need to feel superior and dominate them. Even when they lost, they used robots to add an unfair advantage. He saved everyone but decided to hold the front and block the remaining alphas. Just when he was about to get exhausted and god knows what would happen, ML appears. He one-shots everyone and both figuratively and physically he’s a shining, guiding light to Bai Ling, his anchor, his safe space. Throughout the story, Yu Chen has only shown care and affection for Bai Ling. Like a mother, he took care of his injuries and fed him well, he was a supportive figure in his life. Now, you discover that that caring figure actually just wants you for body? Because you’re an omega? You have to remember that omegas can go through Pheromone Addiction when they’re differentiating if they have prolonged contact with an alpha’s pheromone.

After he became addicted, he had lost all interest in food. At times he was like a walking corpse; at others, he was scratching at the walls. Even if he was psychologically disgusted, his body would uncontrollably try to rush out. When he was delirious, he had even said ridiculous things like “I want to marry him.”

Luckily, that scumbag’s ability was only A-grade, while he was a high-grade omega with SS stats in every category. The other’s pheromones couldn’t control him. In the end, his family had locked him in a room. He had gone crazy for a week, and after he got out, he had to recover for a long time before he finally kicked the terrifying addiction. (Chapter 14)

Imagine losing all your autonomy just bcs of pheromones, an alpha can, just by existing and emitting pheromones, control your whole life, isn’t that unfair? Now how would you act if the person you saw as your only safe space in this corrupt world actually hid the fact that he’s an alpha? He was probably laughing behind your back, “What a stupid omega, actually falling for my tricks”. Ofc Yu Chen didn’t have this in mind, but all the alphas in Bai Ling’s life so far have been nothing but scumbags, why would he think YC is different from others? We’re not talking about real life, we’re talking about a society that promotes alpha superiority, degrades omega’s rights and allows all kinds of abuse to run rampant. Bai Ling already had trust issues with alphas, YC only exacerbated and confirmed them by hiding the truth.