Second stage of differentiation

Bai Ling was confident in his SSS-agility Peregrine Falcon bloodline. He felt that even though he was trapped by the bedpost, he could still stretch out his claws, attack, and retreat completely unscathed.

But unexpectedly, the moment his metal prosthetic foot touched Yu Chen’s knee, a hand grasped his ankle. Not only could he not break free, but his ankle was caught and used as leverage to press his leg down.

By the time Bai Ling reacted, it was already too late.

He had no escape. He saw that all his retreats were cut off. He could only risk it all and roughly kick upward with his good leg.

His pale foot landed on that broad shoulder. He pressed down with all his force, but it was like pushing against a seaside boulder; he couldn’t budge it at all.

His breathing suddenly quickened, because the other man was leaning down over him. He didn’t even need to look up to see those deep, lowered eyelids, the straight bridge of his nose, and his full, ruddy lower lip.

It seemed as if he was about to bite him until scalding blood dripped out and burned two holes right through the sheet beneath them.

The fingers gripping his ankle were also incredibly hot.

Bai Ling turned his head away, took two huge breaths, and forced himself to calm down.

What is going on? This guy is clearly blind, yet every time he grabs me is perfectly accurate, as if he had rehearsed it countless times.

“Are you always this slow?” Yu Chen asked in a whisper.

Bai Ling thought he meant his movements were slow and was about to retort, but the other man suddenly loosened his grip. He fumbled for a moment before touching his forehead, pressing his whole palm against it.

The action was gentle, yet seemed to carry an imperceptible hardness and pity.

“Your forehead is still burning. It’s a wonder you could even sit up and roughhouse with me. Aren’t you dizzy?”

Bai Ling blankly stared at him and only then did he slowly come back to his senses.

He hadn’t really felt it before, but now that the man had said it, it was as if all the sickness in his body mixed, found a trustworthy outlet, and surged through his organs all at once.

He suddenly bent over, clapping a hand to his mouth. A wave of nausea rose from his stomach, and he almost threw up.

That alpha pheromone pill seemed to have come alive. It must have been stimulated by something, for it was wreaking havoc in his stomach, determined to fight something for dominance.

A chill went down Bai Ling’s spine. He suddenly remembered Dr. Lin’s repeated warning—

Within 7 hours of taking the medicine, stay as far away from alphas as possible. The stronger their level, the farther you must run.

Otherwise, the artificial alpha pheromone supplement will clash with the natural alpha pheromone. Once the natural one overpowers the artificial one in your body, you will never be able to take the artificial medicine again!

From then on, you will only be able to rely on that alpha’s pheromones to survive, it’s comparable to a drug addiction, until you are completely and thoroughly marked by them, inside and out…

It couldn’t be.

From the time he’d taken it until now, he had only encountered one alpha.

—The tyrant, Kaide.

“Ugh…” Bai Ling felt even sicker. He could sell his soul to the devil, but he absolutely refused to go into heat every day, lose his mind, and lay eggs for a coward.

The AI brought the milk on a small tray and worriedly looked at Bai Ling’s pale, drawn face.

He already had a cold, blade-like temperament. Now, ravaged by the high fever, he was like a northern iceberg, cracked and ready to shatter at a touch.

Too bad Master can’t see it, the AI thought.

A thin layer of cold sweat beaded on Bai Ling’s forehead. His gray-white hair clung to his temples like a wet dandelion puff. He bit his lip, trying desperately to ignore the cramping pain deep in his abdomen, which felt like a meat grinder.

This isn’t normal…

It feels much more violent than a normal reproductive cavity inflammation.

He wondered if it was related to the side effects of that alpha pheromone supplement.

He reached out and tugged on Yu Chen’s sleeve. Fighting the chattering of his teeth, he asked, “My medicine… the things in the waterproof bag, where are they?”

“Under the pillow.”

As a pure-blood of the Deep Sea Imperial family, Yu Chen’s hearing was extremely sensitive. This close, he could easily capture many sounds that ordinary people wouldn’t notice.

For example, the omega’s calf rubbing quietly against the sheet; his fingers unconsciously picking at the cufflink on his sleeve; and how, every time they spoke, when he was forced to ‘face’ him, the heart inside his rising and falling chest would always speed up…

He could hear all these sounds.

He also heard the helpless little bird tear open the bag, unfold the medication leaflet, and widen his eyes, desperately trying to find an answer among the densely packed list of adverse reactions.

Yu Chen made a gesture, and the AI quickly and steadily placed the glass in his hand.

“You are entering your second differentiation.” Yu Chen sat on the edge of the bed. He casually put a hand on Bai Ling’s waist and pulled him closer, slightly dissatisfied with the thin layer of flesh he could barely grasp.He slowly said, “Christopher is entertaining a group of alphas in the banquet hall tonight. There are plenty of people out there who would love to bite through your neck. You are better off staying here.”

Second differentiation… So that was it.

In any case, as long as it wasn’t an addiction to an alpha, he was fine.

Bai Ling dropped the leaflet, dispirited. He shot Yu Chen a suspicious glance. He had wanted to ask how he could tell, but then he figured, an ancient old omega like him must have weathered every storm imaginable. It seemed normal that he would be this sensitive to it.

The AI’s camera quietly lowered, focusing on the sliver of ankle visible at the edge of its master’s chestnut-brown trousers.

The electric light-cursor shackle, the kind designed to forcefully suppress an alpha’s aggressive possessiveness, was meticulously fastened on Yu Chen’s ankle.

It was equivalent to binding the merman’s tail, imprisoning the source of his powerful strength.

The AI nodded its stainless steel head, feeling this deeply. “That’s right. The most dangerous place is the safest place.”

Bai Ling asked doubtfully, “The most dangerous?”

How dangerous is it here? There is only an old-model cleaning robot here and an old merman who can’t see.

No matter how he looked at it, he—the future, bloodthirsty revolutionary leader—was far more dangerous than these two.

Besides, this merman was holding the milk and trying to bring it to his mouth. But because he couldn’t see, he held it near Bai Ling’s shoulder, forcing him to bend over and lower his head to lap at the milk that was about to spill from the rim.

A faint light seemed to flash in Yu Chen’s eyes before slowly dimming again.

He maintained the posture of feeding a small bird. Bai Ling’s soft sipping sounds pleased him.

A pink tongue-tip dipped into the soft white milk, taking a light sip. As the milk level dropped, he got less and less, and he unconsciously buried his nose in the glass. Finally, his teeth grazed the clear rim as he tilted his head back, catching the last drop with his lips and tongue.

Yu Chen couldn’t see, but this scene naturally materialized in his mind.

He discreetly tucked his left foot back a little.

His hand tilted, and a few drops of milk spilled onto the back of his hand.

The little bird was dizzy from drinking. Wherever the milk was, he followed. His eyes stared at the white liquid trickling down, and his lips unconsciously moved forward to lap it up—

Lick.

The sound was a wake-up call. Bai Ling snapped back to his senses.

He sat up straight and explained with a blank face, “…I just didn’t want to waste food.”

Yu Chen took the glass back, lowered his gaze, and smiled. “I know.”

This was the charm of a little stray.

He would say ‘no,’ but if you actually brought it to his lips, he would drink every last drop, never disappointing the one feeding him.

Master seems to be having a lot of fun, the AI thought.

Bai Ling licked his teeth as he tasted the aftertaste. He sharply sampled something different, narrowed his eyes, and asked directly, “You put something in the milk?”

Yu Chen replied in a soft, low voice, not hiding it at all. “An anti-inflammatory.”

“Drugging milk. Just what I’d expect from Izsu Paraiso’s ally.”

The AI had been prepared for the little mechanical bird to throw a hysterical tantrum at them.

But in its camera feed, the little white-haired bird only fluttered his eyelashes, made a casual sarcastic remark, and then lay back down, hugging a pillow with one arm.

He turned his back to Yu Chen and curled up on his side. His voice was muffled. “I drank the milk as you asked. You can leave now.”

He never mentioned being released, nor did he pursue the matter of being drugged.

For an omega in his differentiation period, he was far too low-maintenance.

Or perhaps, it was better to say… he didn’t care, and he didn’t expect anything.

In an ordinary family, an omega entering their second differentiation was an extremely important event.

The guardian would prepare a warm, comfortable nest in advance, setting out clean towels, a change of clothes, food, and water, letting the omega safely attempt their first nesting.

An experienced alpha would stay by the child’s side all night, controlling their pheromone release to soothe pain.

This way, the omega, amidst the intense pain and fever flashes of their developing reproductive cavity, could receive enough rest, comfort, and care.

But Bai Ling had none of that.

A nest, towels, a guardian… He had nothing.

His second differentiation, in his last life, had been spent in a tattered tent he’d salvaged from a garbage heap.

That was right after he had escaped from prison.

The prison guards had fired wildly at him. He’d been lucky to get away, fleeing to the slums of the Capital Planet to hide.

The bullet wounds all over his body had festered and he had no money. He could only bite down hard on the corner of his clothes, pour cheap, black-market alcohol over his own body, and tremble uncontrollably as he dug the bullets out with his own hands.

He had been in a daze, running a low fever for over a week, when his second differentiation arrived.

Kicking him while he was down.

A normal omega would have been nervous and excited at this time. They would have taken leave from school, accepted the blessings and teasing from their classmates in group chats, and lain in a warm bed, scrolling through guides and precautions. When their guardian arrived, they would run out barefoot and jump right into the alpha’s steady arms.

As for Bai Ling?

He had been wrapped in a filthy, tattered cotton quilt, swallowing down the sour ache of his growing pains all by himself. He had numbly rubbed his one remaining leg, trying to generate warmth, while clutching a small knife, his nerves stretched taut in the darkness, guarding against any-and-all intruders.

With that dull knife, he had killed two alphas who had broken into his territory.

Therefore, he did not need any unnecessary pity.

When Yu Chen stood up and asked gently, “Do you need me to stay with you?”

Bai Ling convinced himself, and replied, with a stiff and choked voice: “No. Just go.”

Yu Chen figured the little bird was just sulking.

The AI gathered the items, turned off the light, and prepared to leave with its master. But the little bird only hugged the pillow tighter, so tight it looked as if he was trying to suffocate himself.

Yu Chen walked toward the door and his form melted into the shadows.

Bai Ling turned his head and shot a quick glance at Yu Chen’s departing back. His voice was strange and off-key as he suddenly said:

“…If… If I stay chained here… will I keep getting milk?”