Protective Instinct

Just then, a booming broadcast notification echoed throughout the arena:

“Attention! All participating pilots, please gather at Hall 1 immediately! The organizing committee will announce an important matter! Please pay attention!”

Bai Ling stared nervously at the space outside the corridor. Just a wall away was the main road of the venue, where the hurried, rhythmic thudding of heavy-duty boots pounding the ground reached his ears with startling clarity.

If anyone passing by spared even a glance toward the corner, they would see a man with a black veil over his face, his back arched like a beast savoring its winter meat. From beneath the veil, a vivid crimson tongue flickered out, greedily and eerily licking a fresh wound.

An omega’s injury triggers a powerful protective instinct in an alpha.

Yu Chen’s thick pheromones had completely locked down the corridor. For him, compressing such a torrential surge of power into a mere nine-square-meter area was akin to squeezing a tidal wave into the tip of a needle.

He was like a pressure valve with a violently oscillating needle; outwardly calm, but internally pushing the red line.

“I… I have to go,” Bai Ling whispered, his heart fluttering with anxiety.

The merman remained deaf to his words, instead subtly increasing the intensity of the licking. His tongue, densely covered with barb-like papillae, brushed against the edge of the wound, instantly igniting a burning sensation in his nerve endings as if they had been set on fire.

“Sss…” Bai Ling immediately whipped his head to the side, biting his lip hard to prevent any sound from escaping. He forced himself to endure the waves of numbness that surged through his spine, but he couldn’t stop his waist from trembling or his palms from growing damp.

…Damn it.

He used to hate it when the alphas in his squad would suddenly become possessive after a battle.

Yet now, when it was his turn, he couldn’t help but want to indulge him.

“Repeating: remaining participating pilots must report to Hall 1 within three minutes!”

Amidst the hurried crowd, only one man, wearing a fully enclosed face mask, walked at a leisurely pace. As he passed a remote corner, he caught a glimpse of something, and his gaze suddenly fixed on the entrance of the corridor.

In the shadows of the passage, an alpha was “hunting” with no restraints.

And the person whose wrist was held, the one being “forcibly eaten”, was that very same white-haired pilot who had shown such fearless resolve during the pre-match accident.

The black-masked man changed direction and walked toward them without hesitation.

Bai Ling caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and spotted the other party instantly. His reflexes moved faster than his brain; he snatched the miniature particle gun from Yu Chen’s waist. Before the intruder could react, the cold shadow of the dark muzzle was already reflected in the reflection of the face mask.

Bai Ling tilted his head expressionlessly, aiming the gun directly at the center of the mask’s forehead. “My aim is very steady. If you don’t want to die, get lost.”

Unexpectedly, the masked man didn’t flee. Instead, standing right on the line of Yu Chen’s pheromone-controlled zone, he questioned in a cold voice:

“Don’t let an alpha’s pheromones cloud your mind. Do you even know what he’s doing?”

As an alpha himself, the masked man knew very well that an alpha’s back teeth secrete “Marking Pheromones” for marking.

Much like a snake injecting venom to paralyze its prey, these pheromones contain trace amounts of a numbing agent. It wouldn’t harm an omega’s body, but it would certainly induce a sense of euphoria, making the omega docile or even causing them to lose their reason.

In the masked man’s eyes, “Bai Ling” was being controlled by a high-level alpha’s marking.

Yet, right before his eyes, that proud falcon easily pulled back his licked wrist and suddenly wrapped his arm around the alpha’s shoulders. He pressed his hooded head into the crook of his neck while keeping his gun hand terrifyingly steady, the muzzle didn’t move a fraction of an inch.

It was a gesture of complete, forceful protection.

Protecting his Alpha.

“You’re asking me what he’s doing?” Bai Ling let out a cold sneer. “He’s guarding his food. Are there no eyes behind that mask of yours?”

Masked Man: “Guarding food?”

Bai Ling tilted his chin up. “That’s right. Guarding me.”

After a moment of awkward silence, the masked man dropped a “Suit yourself” and walked away.

Bai Ling: “?”

Are we that close? Since when did they start giving unsolicited life advice?

Feeling the merman squeeze his waist, Bai Ling turned back. Seeing the dark, surging waves in those green eyes gradually settling into a calm sea, he let out a breath of relief.

It was a good thing that masked man hadn’t taken another step forward.

Otherwise, once he entered the old man’s lockdown zone, Yu Chen would have torn him apart before Bai Ling even had a chance to pull the trigger.

Never challenge the bottom line of a food-guarding alpha. Truly a maxim to live by.

The overhead broadcast stopped its shouting, and the footsteps outside grew faint.

Bai Ling really couldn’t delay any longer. Before leaving, he imitated the way Yu Chen usually comforted him; he reached his hand into the voluminous cloak, found the merman’s back, and smoothed down those large, golden curls like he was petting a small animal:

“Stay here and don’t leave,” he instructed. “I’ll be back soon. No matter who comes or what they say, don’t believe them.”

Yu Chen turned his face, having clearly regained his composure. He said with a low chuckle, “I’m not Little Red Riding Hood. I won’t be carried off by the Big Bad Wolf.”

“You’re not Little Red Riding Hood; you’re Big Blue Tail,” Bai Ling said crossly. “There may be no wolves here, but there are plenty of ospreys, egrets, and pelicans, any one of them could snatch you off.”

Big Blue Tail… Yu Chen repeated the words to himself. Suddenly, he held two fingers together and waved them slightly from side to side.

Bai Ling didn’t understand the gesture. “What does that mean?”

“A sign language invented by ancient merfolk after they came ashore.”

“Sign language, huh?” Bai Ling found it interesting and mimicked the gesture with his own fingers. “What does this one represent?”

“Happily wagging a blue tail,” Yu Chen subtly said.

Bai Ling blinked. “Oh…”

That’s actually kind of cute!

Bai Ling broke into a smile. “Next time, teach me a few more merfolk signs.”

“Alright,” the merman gently replied. He took off his outer coat and draped it over Bai Ling’s shoulders.

---

Inside the venue.

A wave of movement rippled through the crowd below the stage, punctuated by the occasional sound of disgruntled bickering.

Bai Ling arrived late.

Lu Xun, with his sharp eyes, immediately spotted the soft-textured cashmere overcoat draped over him and asked sourly, “Did you go find your guardian?”

Bai Ling casually answered, “Mm.”

He tightened the coat around himself and scanned the room, noticing the unease written on most faces. “What are they arguing about?”

Lu Xun said distressfully, “They’re protesting. They want the committee to postpone the tournament for half a month. Because of the accident, a lot of people were shaken up and need time to recover. But they don’t want to lose their ranking points, so they’re trying to force the committee to delay the whole event.”

Bai Ling looked toward the center of the dispute and roughly divided the crowd into two camps. One group was led by the Corvidae and wading bird sub-species; the other group had sharp eyes and powerful talons, clearly members of the raptor family.

He stood and listened for a moment, finally piecing it together.

The Corvidae and wading birds had slightly weaker offensive power; their performance relied heavily on environmental conditions and psychological factors. They insisted that they were affected by the accident and were currently in an unstable state of stress, making them unfit to compete. They demanded to go home, adjust for half a month, and then come back.

The raptors, on the other hand, countered with: I’m busy. I have to go home and help my wife hatch eggs after the match. Hurry up and get this over with; I’m not staying an extra day!

Both sides held their ground, and both had their points. For a moment, it was hard to tell who was in the right.

“Silence!” A booming voice thundered from the stage.

Everyone looked up to see a man with crane-white hair and a youthful, spirited face. It was Old Man Lu, the honorary judge of the organizing committee and the highly respected Vice President of the Mecha Guild.

Though Chairman Lu was over seventy, his back remained as straight as a spear, radiating an aura of natural authority. No matter how unruly the youngsters below were, they had to give him face. They promptly shut their mouths and waited for him to speak.

Chairman Lu said loudly, “First, on behalf of the committee, I announce that the competition will proceed as scheduled.”

A chorus of boos erupted from below. Complaints like “Unfair!” and “Not humane at all!” bubbled up like spring water.

“Secondly, the safety investigation into the accident is ongoing. The preliminary conclusion is that a food-poisoning hallucination led to the pilot’s error. It was an isolated personal accident, not a malicious attack.”

As soon as Chairman Lu finished, someone below curled their lip and said, “Then you still have to compensate us for mental distress.”

“Exactly! Our mindset is trashed before we even step onto the field. How are we supposed to compete?”

“Chairman Lu, let’s just postpone it…”

Looking at their shrinking, timid behavior, Chairman Lu felt a surge of anger.

As an old man who had fought through trials of blood and steel in his youth, he knew that private mercenaries weren’t like the military elite; they started with weaker talent and inferior equipment. Once upon a time, many engineering giants and transportation tycoons would rather pay high prices for military escorts than hire “cheap” mercenaries.

If it weren’t for the previous two generations of mercenaries working diligently, enduring hardships, and carving out a niche market through sheer professional excellence and a military-grade psychological threshold, these pampered pilots today wouldn’t even have a plate of food, let alone a mecha tournament to attend.

Besides, psychological resilience was one of the most critical factors in judging a pilot’s level.

Otherwise, if your mindset crumbles and you throw in the towel at the first sign of a sudden accident, which passenger fleet would ever dare hire a mercenary for protection again?

People are looking for bodyguards, not a porcelain doll to worship at home!

However, what angered Chairman Lu and the committee elders most wasn’t their retreat, but—

“It has been over 300 years since the Imperial Mecha Guild was founded. Countless predecessors of yours used their sweat, blood, and tears to pave a road, allowing mecha piloting to break free from the military’s technological blockade and flourish among the people. In this process, mutual aid and support became the tradition of our circle, giving rise to the mecha spirit of ‘Fairness, Respect, and Passion.’ However—”

Chairman Lu scanned the crowd sternly. “From today’s accident, I saw only the act of standing by with folded arms while others were in danger. I want to ask the younger generation of pilots: where has your usual pride gone? Are the slogans about ‘Chasing the strong and helping the weak’ just empty words?!”

His words rang out like a thunderclap. Every word struck their spines heavily, making the crowd bow their heads in overwhelming shame.

Chairman Lu let out a cold snort. “If the tournament spirit is the essential moral standard for measuring a pilot’s quality, then you have already completely lost this competition.”

The pilots shuddered as memories from before involuntarily surfaced in their minds.

It’s true… many of them came from humble backgrounds. They couldn’t afford mechas, and they certainly didn’t have the money to hire teachers. To have made it this far, aside from their own hard work, they had relied heavily on the Guild’s care, their associations’ support, and the mutual aid of their peers.

The veterans leading the rookies, the seniors teaching the juniors… Mechas have a rigorous structure, and the danger of piloting far exceeds that of a normal aircraft. One slip-up can lead to a fatal crash. It was only because countless predecessors selflessly shared their experience that the accident rate was compressed from a staggering 20% to the current 0.05%.

And they had taken it all for granted.

They even mocked their fallen colleague, offering not a shred of sympathy. Putting themselves in his shoes, if they were the ones who had an accident and were left to die by others, wouldn’t they feel bitter resentment?

The hall fell silent for a long while. Gradually, voices began to whisper: “Chairman Lu is right, we forgot our roots,” “If this happens again, I’ll definitely go in to save people first”…

The pilots, who usually acted like tough guys, were now blushing with shame.

Seeing them willing to admit their faults, Chairman Lu felt slightly mollified. He nodded and said:

“Since that’s the case, I trust you will have no objections to the next announcement.”

What else is there? Everyone looked at each other.

Chairman Lu announced clearly: “Therefore, by the unanimous decision of our tournament committee, this year’s [Moral Excellence Award] will be awarded in advance to—”

“Bai Ling.”

Upon hearing the name, the crowd was stunned for a moment. People frowned and asked one another, “Who’s Bai Ling?”

In the middle of the crowd, a clear, cold voice stood out: “Me.”

Countless heads turned in unison, like a wave suddenly rising from the sea. Standing at the center of that surge was Bai Ling.

His expression was calm, appearing neither flattered nor intimidated. And that iconic dandelion-white hair was a sight no one could forget.

It was the hero who had stepped in halfway, successfully controlling the accident and ensuring zero casualties!

Chairman Lu said, “According to tradition, you have the right to vote. If the opposition exceeds half, the [Moral Excellence Award] will be canceled.”

The hall was quiet for a few seconds.

Then, someone started it, like a single drop of water falling into a still lake. A single clap rang out, followed by ripples as a dozen people joined in excitedly. Finally, like a thunderous storm, the applause exploded across the entire massive venue.

“I support it!”

“Bai Ling deserves it!”

Even the foreign guests in the media section began to shout, “We support it too!”

Amidst the roaring support, Bai Ling leaned in and asked Lu Xun in a confused whisper: “Does this award… come with prize money?”

---

Author’s Note:

Little Bird: (Makes a sign) (Tapes it with scotch tape) (Hangs it on the crown)

[Deep-sea fish are ferocious; do not approach while feeding]

Old Merman: (Wags big blue tail) (Harmless to humans and animals) (Smiles while tearing apart any alpha who approaches the caretaker)