Lawless female

Sava searched the dorm room, but found no trace of Bai Ling. His heart clenched, and he quickly pulled out his terminal, trying to call him and sending a barrage of messages.

He lifted his head and looked at himself again in the mirror.

His face was tired and pale, his jawline sharp and gaunt. Only his cheeks held a little flesh, where the merman’s hand had left a faint, ambiguous red mark, which made him look a little healthier.

Wait… Compared to the anxious state he’d been in during the addiction episode with bloodshot eyes, he really was much calmer now.

At least his heart rate had returned to normal, and his fingers weren’t spasming anymore. It was more effective than taking a high-strength drug.

Bai Ling’s expression slowly turned cold.

Thinking back carefully, there were indeed many unreasonable things that had happened in the past two days.

First, why would an omega be so insistent on occupying his emergency contact slot, even demanding that he delete other alphas? It was like some kind of mating season male competition.

Second, thinking back on their conversations, it seemed that the fearless merman had never actually confirmed his gender!

And he had just assumed and let himself be led around by the wingtip?

He really must have taken the wrong medicine and gotten high.

Bai Ling loathed alphas and disliked people who hid things and beat around the bush about their gender. But when it came to Yu Chen… he calmed down and weighed the situation. He decided to observe a little longer before jumping to conclusions.

The shower water took a while to heat up. As he slowly undid the buckles on his prosthesis, he let his mind wander.

—Is there any simple, crude method to force a disguised alpha to reveal his true form on the spot?

Bai Ling slowly felt his pocket and pulled out an unopened inhibitor stick.

To others, this might just look like a large cotton swab. But once it was saturated with omega pheromones, it was a nuclear bomb capable of detonating and destroying an alpha’s willpower!

Before putting his plan into action, Bai Ling glanced at the non-slip mat the AI had deliberately placed. His gaze couldn’t help but become meaningful.

…So considerate. It made him reluctant to be ruthless.

He sighed, then decisively lifted the lid of the trash can, squinted at it for a moment, and decided to set up his—

Fish trap.

Yu Chen rested for a while in his study chair.

As he had expected, unsealing the THEMIS system was still taxing. Even opening it by only 20% left him exhausted, with his head splitting with a headache.

The AI dutifully reported, “I’ve completed today’s meetings on your behalf. I will now report the relevant important information.”

Yu Chen opened his unfocused, forest-green eyes. He took two seconds to orient himself, then quickly regained his composure, slowly pinching the bridge of his nose. “Play it back at triple speed.”

The sooner he dealt with this, the sooner he could check on the little bird and solve the addiction problem.

The AI did not object. Handling official business at triple speed was Yu Chen’s long-standing habit.

During the fifty tense years of standoff between the Old Empire and the neighboring Mammalian Federation, Izsu Paraiso, at his peak, could go a month without rest, even read battle reports at ten times speed, and instantly make perfect decisions.

This ability had once terrified the Mammalian Federation, making them think the Waterfowl Planet had already achieved AI singularity, that the cyber-Emperor’s eye was surveying the cosmos, controlling the world.

What a pity. Times had changed. Now, just going downstairs to pick up his little bird takeout required him to close the door and rest for a while.

The AI shook its head. And despite this, its cyber-master was still dreaming daily of simulated little birds— either the little bird crashed or the little bird cried.

But when it asked who the little bird in the dream actually was, what it looked like, Master would become vague, and would almost always press his temples and say: “I don’t remember. I have no vision and can’t clearly see his face. I only remember he promised to meet me at dusk, but he never came…”

The AI thought for a moment before asking, “Is he like the mechanical little bird who gave you the milk candy?”

Yu Chen considered it, then said slowly, “They have similarities. For example, both are disabled in the leg. But they shouldn’t be the same person. The bird I dream of has no pheromones, and isn’t as arrogant and flighty as the little one who visits.”

No pheromones likely meant beta. That alone ruled out Bai Ling.

Besides, due to the fragility of their hollow bones, amputations were not uncommon among Avians. It couldn’t be used to determine identity.

Yu Chen listened to the report for a while. It consisted mostly of financial changes in the corporations under his name, the movements of the restorationist factions, and a large number of letters pledging allegiance from those trying to push their way into the “72 Demon Pillars,” his interstellar secret political and economic organization.

One item, however, caught his attention slightly.

The AI read: “Central Secretary Heinz just sent us a list of guests for the Imperial banquet, along with detailed backgrounds of all the alphas participating in the ‘hunt.’ Additionally, he included a message.”

“What message?”

The AI imitated Heinz’s gloomy, calculated tone: “Perhaps you require someone who can handle your dirty work.”

Handle dirty work…

Yu Chen thought of Bai Ling’s stress reaction when passing that group of people. After a moment’s thought, he tapped the desk. “Find some free time. Arrange for him to meet me.”

After speaking, he stood up, leaning on his cane.

It has been almost an hour. Is that little bird still in the bathroom?

Afraid he might have fainted inside, Yu Chen quickened his pace.

He reached the guest bathroom and was about to knock, but the door wasn’t closed, and his hand pushed it open.

A thick, cloying wave of omega scent instantly assaulted him, invading his already weary mind.

“Ah, I threw the used inhibitor stick in the trash can. Does it smell strong?” Bai Ling leaned against the wall, arms crossed, with a defiant posture.

Lawless little female!

He deliberately left a scent stick soaked in his juices in his territory. It was exactly like a puppy in heat, marking its territory everywhere.

A merfolk’s nose was comparable to a shark’s, able to detect a single drop of blood diluted in the vast ocean from dozens of nautical miles away.

The omega-laced inhibitor stick, still warm, was a terrifyingly potent assault on the merman’s senses.

Yu Chen was caught completely off guard. His mind went blank for several seconds, and he gripped his cane as veins popped on the back of his hand. His sternocleidomastoid stretched taut as he fought for control with a heavy breath.

The omega’s bittersweet scent drilled into his nostrils. For an alpha still in his rut period, it was candy, but it was also poison.

…He wanted to tear, to mark, to brutally invade and crush the young, supple body before him…!

He couldn’t stop the marking fangs at the back of his jaw from instinctively extending… Hiss! A sharp pain shot through his right foot. The electric ankle shackle activated just in time, jolting him back to a sliver of rationality through pain.

Yu Chen cleared his head for an instant. Like a beast stepping into a trap, like a fish caught in an iron net, he sensed the danger and turned to retreat.

Click. It was the cold sound of a bullet being chambered.

Yu Chen’s heart leaped. The icy muzzle of a gun pressed firmly against the center of his forehead, stopping him in his tracks.

Caught you.

Bai Ling blocked Yu Chen’s path, his entire body tense like a drawn bow, ready for the other to resist. Yet, he tilted his head, his voice lazy and relaxed. “So, I seem to have developed an addiction to an alpha. Do you have any clue about that?”

For a moment, Yu Chen wanted to laugh with pleasure.

As expected, he still preferred this straightforward little bird.

With the gun barrel against his forehead, Yu Chen retreated slowly, step by step, until the back of his knees hit a chair.

The arrogant raptor seized the opportunity and shoved him hard in the chest, forcing him down into the high-backed velvet chair. Then, he planted one foot on the seat, pinning down the fine fabric of his trousers.

Like a hunter grabbing a beast’s fur, like a fisherman pinching a fin, the experienced bird swiftly closed the net.

Bai Ling imperiously looked down at the merman’s golden eyelashes. He maliciously twirled the long, black metal gun barrel and ground it across his forehead, deliberately leaving an ambiguous mark on that flawless face.

Then, in a cold, amused tone, he interrogated, “Did you have fun messing with me?”

Author has something to say:

Today is the day the merman whose gender-disguise is about to be exposed, with the word [Danger] hanging over his head.

Little Bird: Hmph, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Fess up!

Little Night Hen: (Lights cigarette) See, what did I tell you? Off to have obscene rites with the Devil. Heh, omegas!

Little Bird: ? (Kicks his butt)