Chapter 117

Chapter 117

AMSC, Eden, women, children.

Xu Zhangying stood on the humid land of South America and couldn’t help but raise his head, gazing at the massive port filled with containers under the scorching sun. His mind flashed back to Hong Kong four months prior.

Zhao Lanyue, who had been resold, and Shen Feng, who had been executed—these were but a tiny glimpse of the heinous crimes committed by this dark religious organization that spanned every corner of the world.

Though dozens of shipping documents implicating AMSC had been found beneath the floorboards of Shen Feng’s residence, Xu Zhangying and the others knew far too little about LEBEN at the time to use them as evidence to convict this ultra-wealthy dynasty.

But now, it was clearly time to reel them in.

3:00 PM, Santos Free Port.

The AGB investigation team took control of the top-floor office of the free port. Laura’s law enforcement style was aggressive—she directly handcuffed the two office managers, one British and one Brazilian. Once the two were crouched in a corner, Benjamin quickly hooked up his computer to the port’s internal system.

"Superintendent Laura," Benjamin said with a grimace as he rapidly typed code, "you know I’m just an intern, right?"

"Of course. Your professional skills are excellent. I’ve remembered your name," Laura replied, sliding her Beretta back into its holster with an encouraging look of appreciation for her junior.

"That’s not what I meant," Benjamin said helplessly in English. "I mean, we don’t have a search warrant. If this gets flagged as a major violation, the AGB Councillors could revoke my probationary qualification."

Everyone fell silent at his words—thanks to the IGO, this operation had not only lacked official support but even a first-level search warrant, forcing them to operate in the gray areas of law enforcement.

"What’s there to fear?" Xu Zhangying, leader of Asia Team 03, patted his intern on the shoulder and reassured him confidently. "Complaint procedures move slowly. The first step is sending the documents to the AGB branch office. By then, just have Director Amber destroy them."

This blatantly unethical remark left not only the two unfortunate managers in the corner wide-eyed but also Vincent and Valentine from North America Team 04 standing nearby, who couldn’t help but look horrified.

Yet their police superintendent seemed to have already grown accustomed to the wild ways of the Asia branch—Zeiss leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and remarked, "You’ve got this down pat."

"You flatter me," Xu Zhangying replied humbly. "Officers like us, constantly navigating situations with limited authority and support, have to learn to be flexible."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

"Hmph."

While the two were talking, Benjamin had already breached the free port’s encrypted backend. Zhao Yang, standing behind him, blurted out, "That fast? Benjamin, you’re really something."

Benjamin shook his head. "This encryption system is outdated. It was phased out internationally about five years ago."

"The bar for crime here is pathetically low, huh?" Li Jiali couldn’t resist snorting. "Even the Eternal Life Society cuts corners."

The database entries Benjamin accessed looked similar to the AMSC ledgers Tang Youning had sent earlier, though much more concise, filled with professional abbreviations. The dates, however, were clearly marked, spanning from three years ago to a month later.

It was obvious that if the Messiah hadn’t suddenly exposed the death list at the LSA Conference, the third-generation Eden in South America would still be operating busily as usual.

Xu Zhangying exchanged a glance with Xia Qing before turning to the two managers crouching nearby and barked in English, "What about the data from three years ago?"

"I’m not sure," the British manager said, shifting uncomfortably. "We just follow Mr. Lowell’s instructions. The system routinely purges data every three years."

"Who’s Lowell?" Xu Zhangying pressed, his voice low.

The British and Brazilian managers shared a look before finally stammering, "The director of the Santos Port Authority."

The team caught on instantly—the Santos Free Port was managed by the city’s port authority, a public utility overseeing infrastructure. Its structure was unique, with management comprising both government officials and corporate employees. No surprise Octavius and the other Emperors had long since secured these channels and back-end access.

"Who oversees the data purges?" Zeiss, dressed in a sharp black suit, asked sternly, his expression cold and severe. "Important data like this wouldn’t just be wiped."

Though this data was evidence of crimes, for the Emperors and the leaders of the Eternal Life Society, it was both a paper trail and blackmail material. Simply deleting it would mean losing its potential worth, which was why Zeiss was certain there had to be backups.

Just as expected, the British man and Brazilian shared a look, and the Brazilian admitted in fluent English: "It's Mr. Lowell. He supervises us while we clear the data."

"But before deleting the data, he would print out a copy in this office, then completely erase it."

Print out?

Zhao Yang, who was leaning against the printer, straightened up immediately. He, along with Li Jiali and Qi Feng beside him, lowered their heads to look at the 2008 Sharp printer under their arms, feeling a bit surreal—was this how the evidence of trafficking of omegas and children was printed out?

"Backups are hard copies?" Xu Zhangying asked again for confirmation.

In this environment where crime was treated as routine, the two port employees didn’t realize the gravity of their words or what they were about to change. They simply added: "Yes, this system isn’t connected to the internet. Mr. Lowell would print the data, then check both the computer and printer for any remaining backups. After confirming everything, he’d take the printed documents away in his briefcase."

Keeping the computer offline was likely to evade the Messiah’s ever-watchful surveillance. It sounded ridiculously crude, yet it was the most efficient and reliable method. Xu Zhangying and the others were chilled by the Eternal Life Society’s tightly layered criminal network.

"But if it’s hard copies," Qi Feng glanced down at the printer, then looked up at Xu Zhangying and the others, suddenly realizing, "Aren’t those the same documents Officer Wu and his team have been trying to reconstruct at the experimental center?"

The pieces fell into place.

—Documents preserved for years, deliberately shredded and hidden, precisely because they were the valuable intelligence preserved by Eliot and other Eternal Life Society managers.

"These idiots," Laura shook her head with a cold laugh, "They were arrogant enough to think they’d return here."

"Too bad those documents will now become ironclad evidence against them," Li Jiali murmured beside her.

Just then, Benjamin, at the computer, turned abruptly toward Xu Zhangying and the others, his voice thick with disbelief: "Boss, the shipping routes here seem to extend beyond South America. The farthest—"

"—goes to Rotterdam, taking only 18 days."

The mood turned grim within the AGB investigation team.

Soon, that night at the São Vicente Experimental Center, Laura and the others quickly sifted through the data and uncovered at least three Eternal Life Society bases in South America and two in Western Europe.

The status and influence of AMSC Shipping within Life far exceeded Xu Zhangying’s initial expectations. Though there were undoubtedly other gray-market transportation methods, backed by the Third Eden and South America’s largest port, Tang Hongyun’s deceptively low-profile shipping enterprise had become a key force in expanding their criminal network.

"If this is true," Zeiss’s face darkened, "Tang Hongyun’s position is definitely different from Li Tianyue’s."

"He might very well be an Emperor."

In the abandoned Third Eden—the LSA Experimental Center’s meeting room—Laura took a drag of her cigarette without speaking. Xu Zhangying watched the smoke curl in the air, his fingers twitching slightly before Xia Qing caught his hand.

Xia Qing missed nothing. Xu Zhangying gave him a pleading look before forcibly pulling his mind away from the cigarette.

"What do you think, Edmund?" Laura tapped ash into the tray, not looking up.

"I think Tang Hongyun was likely involved with Life as early as the Second Messiah era," Xu Zhangying lifted his face, the lab’s cold light casting sharp shadows across his features. "The experimental center was completed in 2006, the warehouse began operation in 2010, and AMSC was acquired by Tang Hongyun in 2005. Though we haven’t found the earliest paper records yet—"

"—Tang Hongyun definitely didn’t join the game just in the last decade." Xu Zhangying spun a pen idly in his left hand, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "I suspect these Chinese tycoons’ involvement with Life dates back to before Octavius."

"The '90s were indeed the peak of global economic growth," Xia Qing said calmly, "and also the most turbulent decades for migration and cultural shifts. Many domestic enterprises expanded overseas, with strategies far more aggressive than today’s."

Aside from ordinary officers like Li Jiali, everyone present understood Xia Qing’s unspoken implication—his own father.

The legendary first Emperor.

If Xia Gaohan had already infiltrated Life in the '90s, would the Tangs, the Lis, or even other wealthy enterprises from their homeland really lag behind by a full two decades?

Impossible.

Everyone had figured it out by now.

—And they were most likely accomplices.

"The Li family once mentioned that Li Tianyue probably isn't the Emperor, but he seems quite close with the second-ranked Emperor 'Tiberius.' Could the Tang family be the Tiberius family?" Zhao Yang also spoke up.

"Possibly," Xu Zhangying said, "but it might not be Tiberius either."

"If not Tiberius, then it must be the third-ranked Claudius," Laura shook her head. "It definitely wouldn’t be Nero, the trusted aide of the Third-Generation Messiah."

Hearing this, Xu Zhangying couldn’t help but laugh: "I really don’t understand how the Emperor seats are allocated. Given the strength of the Octavius faction’s allied corporations, it’s impossible that they paid less in ‘taxes,’ yet they didn’t secure an Emperor seat."

"Clearly, this is the Messiah’s power," Zeiss said gravely. "Though we still don’t know where his authority—which overshadows symbols like the Nauron Family and Hong Kong’s Tang family—comes from."

"So, we’ll start with Tang Hongyun now."

Laura stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray. "Right now, one team stays behind to organize the Tang family’s illegal transport records, while the other heads to the Colombian base to collect on-site evidence—preferably with witnesses. Ideally, within 32 hours, the North American Division and the RCMP can launch an operation in Toronto."

"We need to move fast. It’s already been three weeks since Tang Hongyun landed in Canada. Given the latest intel, if he really is the Emperor, the nature of his trip to Canada changes," Laura’s gray eyes reflected deep intent.

"—He’s likely seeking help from the Octavius faction. We can’t wait any longer. The more they interact, the higher the chance they’ll find a way to evade blame."

The meeting ended quickly. Naturally, Xu Zhangying volunteered to go to *Santa Marta*, Colombia—for no other reason than that this was the city where he first encountered *LEBEN*-related cases at AGB. The burning white house, the imprisoned girls, the U.S. congressman burned alive—five years later, Xu Zhangying finally learned the true force behind that tragedy.

Since this was a time-sensitive operation, the team heading to *Santa Marta* was lean: Xu Zhangying, Xia Qing, and Li Jiali from the AGB investigation team, along with five officers from the Asian branch brought by Wu Lingwei, boarded a flight that same night.

Before departure, in the meeting room, Zhao Yang stared at the corporate headshot photo of AMSC on the computer and couldn’t help but ask, "What was Tang Hongyun thinking, changing AMSC’s legal representative to Tang Youning? That kid won’t become a scapegoat, will he?"

It wasn’t unwarranted suspicion—after the Li Jiayu incident, the AGB team couldn’t help but be wary of such disgusting intra-family blame-shifting.

"No," Xu Zhangying looked up and smiled at Zhao Yang. "The Messiah’s list names Tang Hongyun, and the property transfer happened at the end of last year, so Tang Hongyun, the primary holder, is the main target. The secondary targets are Tang Xinyi and Tang Xinrong, who have assets in South America and participated in the Eternal Life Society—similar to the Li family’s situation."

"Right," Li Jiali added. "We’ve already pulled the travel histories of the Tang family’s key members. Tang Hongyun, Tang Xinyi, Tang Xinrong, and others frequently traveled to South America, while the younger generation—Tang Youan and Tang Youning—had the fewest trips."

"Tang Youan went to Colombia once five years ago when his father, Tang Xinli, was critically ill, while Tang Youning never went at all. This means the chain of evidence against them is inherently broken, making arrest warrants unlikely."

"Fools have the best luck," Qi Feng couldn’t help but remark. "Tang Youning’s naivety is on par with Li Jiayu’s, honestly."

"Speaking of which," Zeiss closed his folder and stood up calmly from across the desk, "when he called Edmund the other day, AGB hadn’t even located Tang Hongyun’s whereabouts yet."

Under Xu Zhangying’s stunned gaze, Zeiss nodded slightly.

"That’s right. So, the intelligence about the Tang family fleeing to Toronto was leaked by him."

Hearing this, Zhao Yang opened his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That kid really is Tang Hongyun’s personal kryptonite. Who knows what the Tang family owed him in a past life."

For some reason, Zhao Yang’s words echoed in Xu Zhangying’s mind as he stood in the *Santa Marta* sanatorium.

At that moment, he and Xia Qing were in the courtyard of a vibrantly colored building, characteristic of Colombia, looking up at the beautiful ornate wrought-iron balconies enclosing the terraces.

Exactly like what they’d seen in the Dark Web livestream from David City.

Beautiful, vibrant omegas trapped in white rooms, their only activity being to sit on the balcony with rounded bellies, gazing through the wrought-iron grilles at the colorful walls and identical balconies ten meters away.

Not even the sky was visible.

Similarly compelled by the Messiah’s list, the entire sanatorium had been abandoned, leaving only messy rooms and corridors. Fortunately, Xu Zhangying found a small stack of remaining records in a first-floor medical room cabinet—documents left unshredded.

Here are the omega records from 2014 to 2015 at this "base." Two exceptionally beautiful women's names were marked with a label, and the Spanish word "alquiler" was handwritten next to them in ballpoint pen.

Rented out.

Why would living people be "rented" out? Xu Zhangying pieced it together instantly.

He wasn’t the only one. Li Jiali went ghostly pale upon seeing the word—she had immediately thought of the young girls trapped in the white house five years ago, forced into degradation. That white house was only three hundred meters away from this "sanatorium."

When Xu Zhangying and Li Jiali had investigated the white house back then, they could have easily looked up and seen this vibrantly painted building. Yet it had never occurred to them that over a dozen omegas with the same fate were imprisoned inside.

As they left, Xu Zhangying stood in front of the colorful building and noticed a slender queen palm swaying gently in the wind.

Within less than five hours of arriving in Santa Marta, Xu Zhangying had shipped the evidence back to Santos. Zeiss, still at the lab, immediately forwarded it along with AMSC’s illegal flight records to the North American branch.

Thanks to AGB’s special clearance, Xu Zhangying and the others didn’t have to deal with long check-ins, but the intense travel still left him exhausted. He ended up dozing off against Xia Qing’s shoulder.

The moment they landed at São Paulo Airport, Xu Zhangying received a message from Zeiss: the North American branch had already begun their operation. Now, all they had to do was wait through the night.

No one slept that night. Xu Zhangying remembered it clearly—it was the turning point in the LEBEN investigation.

If the arrest of the Tang family, led by Tang Hongyun, succeeded, AGB would gain critical intel on LEBEN’s trafficking network, setting up the takedown of key figures like Octavius and Tiberius.

In the meeting room, almost everyone—except Xu Zhangying and Xia Qing—had lit a cigarette at some point.

Amid the haze of smoke, the city near the Tropic of Capricorn was about to greet a summer sunrise. Xu Zhangying gazed at the dim morning light outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, idly spinning his phone in his hand.

Finally, as if remembering something, he unlocked his phone and logged into WeChat for the first time in nearly a month.

Due to his frequent overseas assignments, Xu Zhangying had very few WeChat contacts—just a handful from the Major Crime Unit, like Fang Puxin and Zhao Yang, plus Tang Youning and Xia Qing.

Zeiss, being an American-born Chinese, didn’t use WeChat. They communicated solely through email and phone calls.

His phone blew up with alerts the moment he logged in—a flood of messages flooded in, one after another.

His first thought was that Shao Qiaoqiao or the others were urgently trying to reach him. But once the messages finished loading, he realized all of them were from Tang Youning. He’d disabled Tang Youning’s ‘Do Not Disturb’ before Abu Dhabi.

"The hell’s this?" Zhao Yang, sitting nearby with stubble covering his face, rubbed his eyes and watched as Xu Zhangying fumbled to silence his phone. "You and Xia Qing are sitting right next to each other—do couples really text this much?"

"Hardly. Just logged in," Xu Zhangying replied deadpan.

Zhao Yang and Qi Feng leaned in to look at his phone. A sunglasses-clad guy’s selfie was accompanied by a blazing “99+” icon.

"Oh, it’s the *other man*," Zhao Yang said, losing interest as he yawned.

"Piss off, dumbass," Xu Zhangying muttered irritably, pulling his phone closer to Xia Qing to block their view.

He tapped open the chat, and the screen instantly jumped to messages from over half a month ago. Starting from the day of the LSA Conference, Tang Youning had bombarded him with crying emojis and messages like, *Senior, are you okay?* *Senior, why aren’t you replying?* *Senior, where are you now?*

Xu Zhangying’s thumb grew sore from scrolling—he hadn’t even made it through a week’s worth. The guy spammed thirty-plus daily.

Three minutes later, he finally reached the end. The endless stream of sobbing-bear memes had seared into his brain. When the screen stopped scrolling, he blinked, dazed.

The last message was from two days ago.

It seemed to have been sent after their phone call.

—*Till next time! ^-^*

Perhaps because he had spoken to Xu Zhangying, Tang Youning was in a good mood. Instead of the usual wailing bear, he sent a happy, tail-wagging pup.

"What is all this," Xu Zhangying muttered to himself as he casually saved the meme/sticker pack.

But he still couldn’t bring himself to message Tang Youning, so out of habit, Xu Zhangying tapped on the profile picture to check his social media feed.

The next second, Xu Zhangying’s hand froze, and his entire body went numb with cold.

Everything looked normal.

Except for that line of gray text—small but painfully obvious.

-This account has been deleted.

Amid the deafening ringing in his ears, Xu Zhangying faintly heard the sound of the conference room door being hastily pulled open.

"Edmund."

"Edmund, can you hear me?"

Every sound from the outside world seemed muffled, as if underwater. Xu Zhangying forced himself to resurface, lifting his pale face to look at the suddenly unfamiliar faces across from him, and nodded.

"I heard."

-

On November 6th,

the AGB North American Branch, in collaboration with the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), raided one of Tang Hongyun’s private mansions in West Vancouver, where authorities were already positioned.

Just as law enforcement was about to forcibly arrest Tang Hongyun, the head of the Tang Group, for his alleged involvement in the extremist gender organization Life, they found him already drowned in the pool overlooking the water.

Meanwhile, traces left throughout the mansion indicated that a shootout had taken place, preliminarily involving at least three separate factions of illegally armed individuals. However, the only bodies found were those from Tang Hongyun’s side.

Shortly after, officers discovered Tang Xinyi—badly wounded, bleeding out, and in shock—in a storage room on the third floor, and Tang Xinyi’s deceased brother Tang Xineng in the stairwell. They were Tang Hongyun’s fourth and fifth sons, previously identified as key members of Life.

Tang Xinyi regained consciousness in the early hours of the 7th after emergency treatment, but he denied any internal power struggle with Tang Hongyun, instead accusing someone else—

His own biological Elite Alpha son, Tang Youning.

"The RCMP and the North American Branch did not take his baseless accusations seriously, as there was no record of Tang Youning entering the country," said First-Class Police Superintendent Samuel, standing in the top-floor conference room of the experimental center. The tall white Elite Alpha pushed up his glasses and placed the documents in his hand lightly on the table.

"However, when we contacted the Thai Tourism Bureau, they also found that Tang Youning was not at his registered address. Neither his properties nor the hotels he had stayed in yielded any trace of him. Despite no record of him leaving the country, this alone made his position… suspect."

"But as of now, you have no evidence proving Tang Youning was ever in that house."

A cold voice spoke up—Xia Qing, seated on the left side of the conference table. His slender fingers flipped through the confidential files as he stared frostily at the North American Police Inspector.

"Correct. We only have Tang Xinyi’s—his father’s—testimony," Samuel replied calmly in English, nodding. "But it’s precisely because Tang Xinyi mentioned some rather unusual details that we couldn’t verify, which is why we immediately reached out to you, Officer Laura."

"Tang Xinyi claimed Tang Youning’s motive was—he wanted to inherit the Life rank of 'Emperor' from Tang Hongyun ahead of time."

The moment these words were spoken, every member of the AGB investigation team paled. Yet Samuel’s words continued to cut through their last hope.

"Tang Xinyi confessed that his father, Tang Hongyun, had been granted the title of Emperor by Life in 2009. To prove his claims, he mentioned his father’s codename—Claudius."

"—Officer Laura, we don’t have the clearance for this intel, so we need your confirmation. Is this codename accurate?"

"Accurate," Laura said coldly, with a cigarette between her teeth, expressionless. "Go on. What else did Tang Xinyi say to accuse his son of wanting to become Life’s Emperor?"

Samuel continued, flipping through the documents on the table, then looked up with a subtly strange look. "Tang Xinyi claimed that the Tang Family and the Nauron Family of Canada had known each other since the 1990s. Back then, however, they were part of Life’s European branch."

His words matched exactly Xu Zhangying’s prior theory. The AGB investigation team frowned slightly, unsure why Tang Xinyi would offer this information willingly.

"But what does this have to do with Tang Youning?" Zeiss said gravely. "Given his age, he wasn't even born at that time."

Faced with this question, Samuel, who was usually decisive, fell silent for a few seconds, his expression darkening slightly before he slowly replied:

"This is where Tang Xinyi's testimony starts getting strange."

"He claimed that thirty years ago, the Nauron Family imitated LEBEN and created a special organization, which he referred to as SEL—short for 'Eternal Life Society.' Its purpose was to provide wealthy clients with Elite Alpha heirs and a human organ bank, as the Nauron Family sought to expand their power this way."

The Eternal Life Society.

Samuel had not participated in the investigation into the Third Generation Eden, but Laura and the others knew that the "Eternal Life Society" Tang Xinyi confessed to was precisely the Third Generation Eden. They just hadn’t expected the timeline of the Third Generation Eden to overlap so significantly with that of the Second Generation Eden.

"At the time, Tang Hongyun had just lost his first Elite Alpha heir and was obsessed—even hysterical—about producing another. However, the Tang Family had not been part of LEBEN for long and lacked the clearance to access its inner circle. So, he chose to invest in the Nauron Family’s 'Eternal Life Society.'"

—*Because he couldn’t participate in the Second Generation Eden, he invested in the Third Generation Eden instead?*

As these words fell, the AGB team suddenly realized they were just one step away from uncovering the truth about the Third Generation Eden.

Unaware of this, Samuel merely stood in the vast, open conference room, discomforted by what he was about to say. He frowned before continuing:

"Thus, starting in 1996, several conglomerates—including the Nauron Family, the Tang Family, and Akalai—selected several cities in South America and formally established the 'Eternal Life Society.' The first phase of operations lasted until 2004, when LEBEN collapsed. As key members, they suspended their business. The second phase then ran from 2008 until now."

"In 2009, LEBEN’s dark web was reopened. Like other surviving remnants of LEBEN, the Nauron Family and the Tang Family rejoined and were granted the rank of Emperor. Through their efforts, the 'Eternal Life Society' they operated became a major part of LEBEN’s resurgence, amassing wealth and influence from across the globe. But for the Tang Family, everything changed in 2011."

At the mention of this year, the beta Police Superintendent, who had remained silent until now, subtly clenched his fingers, tightening his grip on the pen in his hand before slowly lifting his head, his expression as cold and sharp as a sculpture.

Meanwhile, Zeiss and Zhao Yang, observing Xu Zhangying’s reaction, already knew what Samuel was about to say next:

"According to Tang Xinyi, in 2011, the Tang Family finally produced an Elite Alpha heir—his son, Tang Youning. Once he secured an heir, Tang Hongyun no longer wanted to bear such immense risks and began gradually withdrawing the Tang Family’s influence from LEBEN, retaining only limited access. He started transferring the family’s core assets to this heir."

"And that heir, evidently, was Tang Youning. Records show he indeed manifested as an A-level Alpha at the age of 14."

Samuel flipped to the last page of the interrogation transcript and looked up at the group before solemnly concluding: "Including LEBEN’s resources."

"You mean," Zhao Yang raised his head in disbelief, not daring to glance at Xu Zhangying’s expression, forcing himself to suppress the tremor in his chest as he spoke slowly, "Tang Youning has always been a member of LEBEN?"

"If you’re asking that question," Samuel replied cautiously, "I can’t give you a definitive answer. But one thing is certain now."

"Tang Youning was likely aware of LEBEN’s existence long before he reached adulthood."

Zhao Yang abruptly clenched his fists, shutting his eyes, unable to recall any prior slip-ups from that Elite Alpha of the Tang Family.

"How could this be?" Li Jiali murmured, her face not just shocked but filled with indescribable confusion. "How could this—"

"If the entire Tang Family—even the Emperor title—was meant for Tang Youning, why would he kill Tang Hongyun? Isn’t Tang Xinyi contradicting himself?"

Finally, in the pale daylight, Xu Zhangying spoke his first words since the meeting began. His tone was measured, betraying no emotion.

In response, Samuel bent down to pick up a second document from the conference table and continued explaining:

"While Tang Xinyi was unconscious, the North American task force identified three different gunfire sources in the mansion, suggesting three parties exchanged fire. After repeated interrogations, Tang Xinyi admitted when he woke up that he was involved."

"According to Tang Xinyi, because the pressure from Chinese authorities had become too troublesome, Tang Hongyun had no choice but to flee to Canada to seek sanctuary with the Nauron Family. But then, the Nauron Family made a demand—they wanted Claudius’ Emperor title transferred to them."

Laura finally frowned, staring at Samuel. "Is that even possible? Did Tang Xinyi explain how the transfer would work?"

"I and North American Unit 06 aren’t very familiar with LEBEN’s protocols, but Tang Xinyi insisted it was possible. The specific procedure supposedly involves a satellite phone—the Emperor uploads a specific encryption key, registers a voiceprint, and then the successor does the same."

When Zeiss heard the last part, his eyes widened slightly. He looked at Samuel and asked coldly, "So, those present in the mansion included not just the Tang Family—the Nauron Family was also involved?"

Everyone was stunned—if what Tang Xinyi said was true, then the person in the mansion yesterday was the one about to become the next "Claudius," whose title of Emperor would undoubtedly rival that of "Octavius."

"Correct. So Tang Xinyi admitted that the Tang family, unwilling to hand over the title of Emperor, reneged and intended to take members of the Nauron Family hostage during the transfer. This led to a murderous shootout between the two sides."

"It was at this moment that Tang Youning, the suspect, appeared abruptly with his men. Tang Xinyi accused him of not only killing the delegates overseeing the transfer but also killing members of the Tang family, including his own biological father, and ultimately taking the satellite phone."

Simple, plain words described a nightmare-like scene. Qi Feng almost wanted to cover his ears, while Zhao Yang and Zeiss's faces drained of all color.

"Of course," Samuel pulled out two A4 sheets from the file and handed them to Laura and Xu Zhangying, who were closest to him, "these are the ballistics reports from Tang Hongyun and Tang Xinyi. The sources are not the same type of bullet marks, confirming Tang Xinyi lied—at least one of these two was not killed by Tang Youning's side."

Xu Zhangying merely stared quietly at the enlarged autopsy photos on the paper. No one knew what he was thinking at that moment. Xia Qing simply sat beside him, saying nothing—Zhao Yang knew this was their way.

"Strange. I didn’t think he hated the Tang family that much. I didn’t expect it to reach this extent," Xu Zhangying murmured. Then, everyone watched as he slowly raised his head and fixed his gaze on Samuel:

"So, did Tang Xinyi say why Tang Youning hates them so much? Though he never acted much like a father either."

"This is actually the most important reason I came personally to meet with the LEBEN investigation team." Samuel took an envelope handed to him by an Officer from North America Team 06, pulled out two files, and placed them on the table.

"In fact, there was another member of the Tang family acting alongside Tang Youning."

"I don’t know if you’re familiar with him—he’s also Tang Hongyun’s grandson. His Chinese name is Tang Yingshao."

The South American sunlight streamed through the half-closed blinds, casting onto Xu Zhangying’s face. The beta’s pitch-black irises lost all color under the daylight, like colorless glass.

For a fleeting moment, Xu Zhangying seemed to see the specters haunting this land.

The next second, Samuel’s final words fell.

"Tang Xinyi confessed that both Tang Youning and Tang Yingshao were creations of the first phase of the Eternal Life Society."

-

---

November 7, 10:00 PM, Underground Level 4 of the Third Eden.

"These are all 15 reconstructed paper records from 1997 that our Officers have managed to restore—only three documents. These three embryo test reports show two females and one male, but the male embryo’s donor source was a male Grade A omega, so it doesn’t match Tang Youning’s case."

Wu Lingwei leaned her hands on the tempered glass table. In the brightly lit underground atrium, three yellowed sheets of paper, pieced together from shredded fragments, were spread across the conference table.

Each consisted of only two pages, and due to oxidation, the Portuguese text had faded somewhat.

Though Laura’s Portuguese wasn’t strong, she could still see that the information on the documents was terse but thorough—especially regarding the egg donors and surrogate mothers. Their gender, age, eye color, genetic medical history, and even ancestral origins were recorded.

"This really is a very detailed spec sheet," Laura picked up one of the yellowed sheets painstakingly glued and taped back together, holding it up to the light before letting out a mocking laugh. "These people are all completely insane. Is having a one in 300,000 rarity really that glorious?"

"It’s not that they find it glorious—it’s that the world has attached too much significance to this so-called 'one in 300,000.' Humans are fundamentally driven by self-interest. The greedier they are, the more they’re driven by it." Wu Lingwei stood under the light strip, her expression cold.

"True," Laura gently placed the paper back on the glass table and shook her head. "This is strange. Could Tang Xinyi be lying? None of these three documents match Tang Youning."

"Are you certain the child was born to a female beta?" Wu Lingwei frowned.

"Three hours ago, China’s criminal team arrived at that Hong Kong women’s hospital and retrieved the archived 1997 records. All the information was there—it was indeed delivered by a female beta," Laura crossed her arms.

"Does Edmund know?"

"He knows. He was shocked at first, but now he’s unnervingly calm. Not even surprised anymore," Laura chuckled. "Sometimes I get the feeling his fate was scripted—how else could there be so many anomalies?"

"I’ve met that child from the Tang family," Wu Lingwei’s delicate face showed a trace of confusion. "It’s so strange. I’m usually very perceptive about people, but I saw no indication of him being a LEBEN member or having a criminal personality."

"I almost forgot," Laura couldn’t help but sigh. "Back at the Los Angeles Medical Center, it was you who told me you saw two Chinese children. Now that you mention it, he was downright volatile back then." "So, I believe someone who can stay by the side of a PDS (Pheromone Disorder) patient for so long is incapable of criminal intent. Their core is resilient and grounded," Wu Lingwei sighed. "Even I can misjudge, it seems."

"I actually have doubts about Tang Xinyi's words. After all, the other people involved are dead, and only he can speak now," Laura said, crossing her arms.

"That's natural. But does the Security Council know about this?" Wu Lingwei looked up at Laura.

"With an operation this big, they’ve probably already met by now," Laura replied dismissively.

Wu Lingwei couldn’t help but frown. "Then Edmund’s situation must be quite difficult. Even a quick check would show his close ties with Tang Youning. The Security Council will likely put him on leave for investigation."

"We’ll deal with it when we get there," Laura said with a casual tone, though her eyes were cold. "Right now, the ones who ought to be investigated are those who investigate others."

Wu Lingwei shook her head helplessly and asked, "So what’s your next move? The Tang family trail’s gone cold."

"Not entirely. We’re waiting for another informant. Samuel said he reached out on his own," Laura checked her watch and looked up. "He should be here by now."

-

When Xu Zhangying woke up, everything was completely dark. He felt disoriented, unsure which room he was in, but he could hear muffled voices from the other rooms and hallway.

Did no one come looking for him?

For some reason, at that moment, Xu Zhangying recalled the feeling of waking up alone at home as a child when the adults had gone to work—disoriented, a little antsy, but also kinda whatever.

Yet the next second, a warm hand touched his forehead. "You didn’t sleep long. It’s just 9:30."

Only then did Xu Zhangying remember that he had nodded off on a couch in one of the meeting floor’s lounges earlier that evening. Xia Qing had arrived, and they’d exchanged a few words before he couldn’t remember much after that.

He hadn’t expected to end up sleeping on top of Xia Qing for over two hours. Reaching out in the dark, he fumbled until he found Xia Qing’s face and gently touched his cheek. "Xia Qing, why didn’t you wake me? I must’ve crushed you."

Xu Zhangying couldn’t see a thing yet, like a flashbang went off when he instinctively turned on his phone—the light seared his eyes, forcing him to shut it off immediately.

Xia Qing took his phone, dimmed the brightness, and handed it back.

"Hey, did no one come looking for us?" Xu Zhangying sat on the sofa, bewildered.

"Zhao Yang came by an hour ago," Xia Qing turned on the desk lamp in the lounge and bent down to pour a glass of water. "But he left when he saw you were asleep."

"Ah, I had no idea," Xu Zhangying said, slightly embarrassed.

"Don’t worry. I dozed off too," Xia Qing handed him the water and sat beside him to retie his necktie. "He just wanted to check on you. Seeing you asleep made him feel better."

"I’m not, like, devastated or anything," Xu Zhangying chuckled. "I was just startled, and since nothing’s clear yet, I’m all over the place."

"I understand," Xia Qing said gently as he adjusted the tie. "But he’s a friend, not a stranger. You’re allowed to have your own emotions. It’s nothing."

"Actually, today I saw a message Tang Youning sent two weeks ago on WeChat," Xu Zhangying said with an exasperated expression, though his eyes were full of amusement. "He was being weirdly shy, thanking Zhao Yang and you for saving him at the hotel. The funny part is, he specifically didn’t thank Zeiss."

"You can mention that to Zhao Yang later," Xia Qing smoothed Xu Zhangying’s collar. "To the person we knew him as, he was a friend."

"Okay." Xu Zhangying looked down at Xia Qing, who smiled back before taking the half-finished cup from his hand and standing to return it to the tea tray.

"But," Xia Qing turned instinctively at the sound of his voice. The neatly dressed beta sat on the sofa, a faint smile on his face, like he was talking to himself, puzzled, "Why did he say he’d come find me to play next time?"

"Even though that was the last call he ever made as Tang Youning."

Tang Youan arrived at São Paulo Airport at 9 p.m. By the time he met with Xu Zhangying, it was nearly 11.

Tang Youan looked no different from before—still dressed impeccably in formal attire, his posture upright and dignified. Aside from the deep exhaustion and weariness in his eyes that he couldn’t conceal, Xu Zhangying still saw him as the same polished gentleman he’d always known.

-

It wasn’t until Tang Youan began recounting his story that Xu Zhangying learned he had actually been staying with Tang Hongyun and others during this time.

In fact, even Tang Youan had been unaware of Tang Hongyun's trip to Toronto.

In a phone call a few days earlier, Tang Youning had told Xu Zhangying a small lie that bent the truth—it was actually Tang Youning who had casually mentioned to Tang Youan that Tang Hongyun and the others had gone to Toronto, which was how Tang Youan found out about the elders' whereabouts.

When Tang Youan sought them out, he discovered that Tang Hongyun and the others weren’t simply fleeing from guilt—they were frantically laundering assets in a frenzy while simultaneously plotting to use the power of LEBEN to carry out targeted killings both domestically and abroad—just as they had done in 2004.

Upon learning this, Tang Youan immediately tried to persuade Tang Hongyun and his uncles not to dig themselves deeper. He even naively proposed solutions like hiring the best legal team and leveraging dual citizenship to delay judicial proceedings—completely clueless about what the Tang family had been doing behind his back.

Hearing this, Xu Zhangying and the others quickly realized that Tang Youan’s role was similar to that of Li Jiaping and Li Xuyin before him. They were the perfect spokespersons and providers cultivated by their families, serving the family’s interests with unwavering dedication. Because they were flawless, their families maintained a spotless image.

As expected, Tang Youan soon failed and was impatiently placed under house arrest by Tang Hongyun, Tang Xinyi, and their group.

It was during this week of confinement in the mansion, listening to Tang Hongyun and the others discuss their plans, that Tang Youan came to understand that the seemingly absurd "rumors" about the family were not unfounded.

As time passed, the confined Tang Youan noticed Tang Hongyun, Tang Xinyi, and the others growing increasingly agitated. The number of "bodyguards" in the mansion multiplied, and at one point, Tang Hongyun and Tang Xinyi even had a blowup.

Tang Xinyi and Tang Xinyi’s brother also mentioned Tang Youning’s name, suggesting that he should have been brought along. But Tang Hongyun refused, which infuriated Tang Xinyi—Tang Youning’s father—who lashed out at Tang Hongyun, shouting something like, "You spoil your grandson but dump the grunt work on your son!"

It was then that Tang Youan finally learned about the Emperor and the "Eternal Life Society." He could sense the expectation and desire in Tang Hongyun’s gaze—he still hoped that Tang Youan, upon learning the truth, would become the overseer of the family’s shadow operations.

However, Tang Youan, who had lived by his principles for thirty years, naturally couldn’t compromise. As a result, he was locked in the basement. And in the early hours of yesterday morning, he lived through the bloody shootout inside the mansion.

The gunfire roared endlessly, with footsteps and voices in various accents passing by Tang Youan’s door. He had no idea what was happening outside and could only cover his ears, waiting for the nightmare to end.

Soon—fifteen minutes, maybe just five—the gunfire stopped. Not knowing whether Octavius or Tang Hongyun had won, Tang Youan could only sit in the basement and await judgment.

*Click.* The basement doorknob suddenly turned.

Two seconds later, Tang Youan knew the outcome—if Tang Hongyun had won, they would have had a key.

So when the armed men outside began kicking the basement door, Tang Youan’s mind reeled. He didn’t know whether to imagine the scene of his uncles’ deaths or his own impending demise.

But then, gunfire exploded anew. The kicking stopped, only to resume after a few dozen seconds.

Amid the gunfire, the basement door was kicked open—and standing in the doorway was a face Tang Youan knew all too well.

"You’re lucky. I thought you’d be dead by now," the young man, dressed in a black suit and holding a pistol, said with a mocking grin on his sharp features. "Brother An."

By the time Tang Yingshao dragged Tang Youan out of the basement, the gunfire in the house had completely ceased.

The floors, the stairs—everywhere was littered with corpses, some familiar, some not, as if Tang Youan had descended into yet another nightmare.

"Where’s Grandfather?" Tang Youan grabbed Tang Yingshao’s arm in panic. "Why are you here?"

But Tang Yingshao, with surprising strength, dragged him along, grinning, to the mansion’s vaulted living room. Along the way, Tang Youan saw over a dozen black-masked men who looked like bodyguards, each armed with submachine guns or combat pistols.

Only when the two stood in the center of the living room did the still-youthful Tang Yingshao shove a corpse aside with his foot and point toward the floor-to-ceiling windows with a dry laugh. "Look. Grandfather’s right there."

Tang Youan saw a figure floating in the eerie blue glow of the pool. One glance was enough to recognize Tang Hongyun.

But before he could process his grief or horror, Tang Youan noticed a tall, familiar figure standing by the pool, silently gazing at Tang Hongyun on the water’s surface.

Rippling light played across the man’s black suit and sharply defined features. Tang Youning didn’t stare at Tang Hongyun for long—he simply bent down, picked up a phone-like device from the poolside, then lifted his head as if just noticing Tang Youan. His expression was calm as he greeted him.

"Second Brother."

Tang Youan stared in disbelief at the cold-faced Tang Youning and shouted, "Youning, why didn’t you save Grandfather? Where are Fourth Uncle and the others?"

"No, second brother," Tang Youning stepped into the living room from outside, shaking his head as he calmly explained to Tang Youan, "By the time I arrived, Grandpa wasn’t moving much. I wasn’t sure if he was already dead, so I stood there watching for a while."

That face, usually so animated, now seemed unrecognizable and chilling. Tang Youan opened his mouth but found himself unable to speak, only managing a rasp, "You... are you also with LEBEN?"

"I suppose so," Tang Youning replied with a dismissive look. "Before, I didn’t want to do anything, so Grandpa didn’t make me. This is actually the first time I’ve worked on my own."

As he spoke, the distracted Tang Youning nearly tripped over a corpse at his feet. A black-masked man beside him quickly moved to steady him, but Tang Youning caught himself and kicked the body with his shoe, flipping it over.

"Hey, whose side was this guy on?" Tang Youning asked Tang Yingshao.

Tang Yingshao glanced at it. "Octavius’s."

"Oh." Tang Youning nodded, then perked up. "So, does that mean we can call it a day?"

"Yep. Octavius got the news during the firefight. The second wave should be here in ten minutes," Tang Yingshao said, still gripping Tang Youan’s hand. "Might as well leave this mess for Octavius to clean up himself."

"Youning, who the hell are you people?" Tang Youan’s mind buzzed, his chest trembling uncontrollably. "Weren’t you on Grandpa’s side?"

"Nope," Tang Youning replied, one hand in his pocket as he turned back to his brother with indifference. "Grandpa just thought I was. But he was good to me all these years, so I never corrected him."

"Fourth Uncle—what about Fourth Uncle and the others?" Tang Youan pressed urgently.

As they reached the staircase, Tang Youning tilted his head to admire the grand spiral staircase before shaking his head again. "I checked earlier. Dad and Fifth Uncle seem close to death. I didn’t have time to save them—the people who killed them are coming. Let’s all leave together."

"Together?" Tang Youan repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah. Second brother, you’ve always been good to me. Grandpa and the others crossed Octavius, and more people will be here soon. If you stay, you’ll die," Tang Youning strode into the small parlor near the exit. He carried no weapons, yet moved like an executioner amidst the carnage.

"Tang Yingshao didn’t want you dead either. That’s why he made sure twice today to confirm you were locked in the basement."

Tang Youan gaped in disbelief at the "little brother" gripping his arm. Tang Yingshao’s darkly handsome face twisted suddenly as he shoved Tang Youan toward a black-masked man. "Tch. Do what you want."

"Youning, who are these people? Why weren’t you with Grandpa?" Tang Youan was seized by the towering black-masked man, forced forward with irresistible strength as he followed Tang Youning toward the foyer. He couldn’t comprehend any of it, only mechanically rasping out questions.

But Tang Youning paid close attention, replying dutifully: "These people were lent to me. I don’t know them."

"By who?"

"Someone who wants me to become Emperor."

Tang Youning stopped at the foyer, turning back with an amused glint in his eyes. "But Octavius tried to take the Emperor position Grandpa was going to give me. And Dad was jealous—he wanted to take it for himself during the chaos."

"So, I had no choice," Tang Youning’s expression flattened as he turned away, leaving only a shadowy figure. "I was forced to come here."

"Why would he want you to become Emperor?" Tang Youan asked, bewildered.

A black-masked man bent to open the door. A freezing gust swept in, laden with the metallic tang of blood through the halls.

Tang Youning, wearing a lightweight black suit, stood at the threshold and gazed up at the snow-filled sky. He answered Tang Youan’s final question:

"Because I called in a favor."

Tang Youan was locked away in an abandoned house ten kilometers away. Only eight hours later did he realize the door had been unlocked at some point. Stepping into the snow, he was soon spotted by passing police cars.

When the story ended, the meeting room fell into a heavy silence. Neither Laura nor Zeiss knew how to begin questioning.

The first to speak was Xu Zhangying, his tone calm. "Youan, based on your testimony—Tang Youning didn’t kill Tang Hongyun or Tang Xinyi?"

"Yes, I’m fairly certain. Judging by the gunfire, Tang Youning’s group was likely the third to arrive. They must’ve clashed with Octavius’s men, who killed my uncles and Grandpa."

"But Tang Xinyi, Tang Youning's father, testified that it was Tang Youning who killed Tang Hongyun and the others. Do you think his words are credible?" Zeiss sat on the other side of the conference table, fixing his gaze on Tang Youan.

"He was lying," Tang Youan closed his eyes briefly before reopening them. "I did hear him arguing with Grandfather about wanting to inherit the Emperor position."

"Can you guess who would demand that Tang Youning must inherit the Emperor position from Claudius?" Laura asked solemnly.

Tang Youan shook his head. His usually gentle and composed face was pale and haggard as he apologized, "I don’t know. I truly know very little about LEBEN. In fact, there are still many mysteries I haven’t unraveled yet."

Zeiss and Laura exchanged a glance before shaking their heads.

"Mr. Tang, have you noticed Tang Youning or Tang Yingshao interacting with any suspicious individuals before?" Zeiss inquired.

"No. Although I’m usually busy," Tang Youan hesitated, then spoke with difficulty, "I did pay a lot of attention to Tang Yingshao at least. I only noticed occasional interactions between him and Tang Youning. Beyond that, it was all very ordinary socializing."

"Rather," Tang Youan murmured despondently, "I would even arrange suitable social circles for Tang Yingshao."

He truly was a good elder brother. Zhao Yang still remembered how he shielded Tang Youning at the Abu Dhabi hotel. Perhaps that was precisely why Tang Youning spared his life.

"Alright, Mr. Tang," Zeiss said coolly, looking at Tang Youan. "You should already know what the 'Eternal Life Society' is, correct?"

Tang Youan nodded. "I already know."

Zeiss turned to the calm Beta beside him and asked the most critical question in a grave tone: "Tang Xinyi claimed that both Tang Youning and Tang Yingshao are products of the Eternal Life Society—is this true?"

Xu Zhangying subtly tightened his grip on the pen in his hand. Not just him—Zeiss, Zhao Yang, even Laura held their breath.

Tang Youan slowly raised his face, his gentle and clear eyes shadowed with complexity.

"It’s true. This, I know."

The tension in the room became permanent. A flicker of astonishment crossed Zeiss’s face, but he steadied himself and pressed further, "When did you find out? And do you know the specifics about Tang Youning and Tang Yingshao?"

"Regarding this," Tang Youan’s eyes flashed with guilt and pain as he said hoarsely, "I feel deeply ashamed. I always believed my principles allowed me to act with a clear conscience, but in truth, I’ve been hypocritically tolerating issues beyond my capacity to resolve without realizing it."

"In fact, I’ve known about the Tang family’s harm to these children for five years."

Five years. Zhao Yang looked up. His memory was sharp as he interjected sharply, "Mr. Tang, five years ago—wasn’t that when you brought your brother Tang Yingshao back from Colombia?"

"Yes. But I concealed some information."

"Five years ago, my father Tang Xinli suffered a sudden heart attack in Colombia. His condition was so critical that complications left him in a vegetative state. So I went to Santa Marta in Colombia to bring him back. It was at his hospital that I discovered Yingshao."

At this point, the color drained slowly from Tang Youan’s thin but sharp features as he continued hoarsely, "I passed him off as an illegitimate child. But in reality, at the hospital, my father’s confidants and uncles didn’t treat him as a child."

"They used a word back then—Fruit. When I asked my fourth uncle Tang Xinyi what it meant, he smiled and told me it was the younger heart my father had prepared for himself. Unfortunately, he became ineligible for surgery before he could use it."

Silence fell over the conference room. Everyone, especially Zhao Yang, Qi Feng, and Li Jiali, who had met Tang Yingshao, recoiled in shock.

"At the time, I didn’t know what the Eternal Life Society was, but I was terrified," Tang Youan admitted shamefully. "I forcibly brought Yingshao back—he wasn’t even 14 yet. I didn’t know what would’ve happened to him if he stayed in Colombia. I was horrified at the Tang family’s—and my father’s—actions, but I still pretended to know nothing. Yingshao kept his distance from me from day one."

It sounded believable yet entirely plausible. Xu Zhangying observed Tang Youan’s thin but sharp features. Humans were inherently contradictory creatures—holding to their moral codes while tolerating issues beyond their capacity to resolve.

"These aren’t crimes you committed, Mr. Tang. There’s no need to blame yourself. Bringing a child like that back to change his fate was already incredibly difficult," Laura said bluntly, her tone straightforward as she characterized Tang Youan’s actions.

"So, behavior like your father’s—using Eden, or the Eternal Life Society as you called it, to breed multiple biological children as organ donors—isn’t widespread, is it?" Zeiss continued.

Tang Youan paused for a few seconds before nodding quietly. "It should be very widespread. At the house in Vancouver, Tang Xinyi once mentioned to me that this practice is very popular among 'clients' in North America and Europe. The early Eternal Life Society relied on this method to quickly amass wealth and influential networks."

"And after Youning appeared, my grandfather Tang Hongyun stepped back from active management. That’s why Octavius’s faction has grown so much over the years—these were regular arguments between Tang Xinyi and Tang Hongyun."

At that moment, Laura clenched her fingers but ultimately raised her eyes to look at Tang Youan and spoke slowly:

"Then, Mr. Tang, do you know Tang Youning’s information within the LEBEN Society?"

Xu Zhangying, sitting across from Tang Youan, finally lifted his gaze. His dark, bright eyes met Tang Youan’s for just a second before the latter silently averted his gaze and nodded.

"Yes, I’ve heard Tang Xinyi mention it many times over the past week."

Laura said nothing, only handing over a document. "This is Tang Youning’s birth record from a Hong Kong hospital. It states that his mother, He Daizhen, was a female beta. Please verify whether this is accurate."

Tang Youan took the document, flipped through it, and after barely thirty seconds, looked up and nodded. "It’s accurate. After Youning differentiated into an Elite Alpha in 2011, Tang Xinyi divorced his then-wife under my grandfather’s orders and married Aunt He. So she is now my fourth uncle’s wife."

"So it’s true after all," Laura exchanged a glance with Zeiss, shaking her head with a quiet sigh. "It seems the records really are incomplete. I thought Tang Youning’s birth mother would be the male omega *previously* listed in the files."

Xu Zhangying also lowered his head, rubbing the pen in his hand. Just then, Tang Youan’s hesitant voice sounded:

"Why—how did you know Youning’s birth mother was a male omega?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Xu Zhangying’s eyes widened sharply as he snapped his head up to stare at Tang Youan’s pale, handsome face.

Laura, Zeiss, and the others looked at Tang Youan gobsmacked, their expressions stunned. Zeiss immediately pressed, "Mr. Tang, didn’t you just confirm with us that Aunt He was the one who gave birth to Tang Youning? Why would there be a second omega birth mother?"

A flicker of confusion and speculation passed over Tang Youan’s face. After a moment of thought, he slowly raised his head and calmly said, "I understand the misunderstanding now. Both statements are actually correct."

"Over the past week, Tang Xinyi mentioned that Youning has two birth mothers."

Tang Youan lifted his gaze to the group, now dead silent, and continued, "Unlike Aunt He, who often appears in entertainment news now, she graduated from a prestigious university in Singapore in her youth and worked as a translator for the Tang family business. Later, due to her outstanding abilities, Tang Xinyi selected her and took her to South America."

No one had expected this turn of events, but they could already guess the beginning of what Tang Youan was about to say next. "Yes, in fact, Aunt He participated in the founding of the LEBEN Society back then and was already involved with Tang Xinyi, even before his first wife."

"No wonder Tang Youning knew about LEBEN since childhood," Zhao Yang couldn’t hold it against him.

"No, she had already left the LEBEN Society before Youning was born," Tang Youan said with a hint of indifference. "At the time, my grandfather was particularly obsessed with Elite Alpha descendants. So after the LEBEN Society was established, members of the Tang family also fathered many illegitimate children with Elite omegas within it—like Yingshao, an illegitimate child."

"But Aunt He was a female beta. So despite her capabilities, Tang Xinyi quickly abandoned her." Tang Youan frowned slightly as he spoke, perhaps also feeling the intense discomfort brought on by extreme alpha elitism.

"Tang Xinyi mentioned this while in Canada. He said Aunt He had begged him for recognition back then, so he told her she could choose to have a child. If the child differentiated into an Elite Alpha by age ten, she could receive a share of the Tang fortune."

"That’s how Tang Youning came to be." Li Jiali, as a woman, shook her head and muttered under her breath, "How cruel. The child was treated as an investment from the moment of conception."

"More than that," Qi Feng muttered angrily under his breath. "It’s like treating the child as a lottery ticket."

"The story shouldn’t end here, Mr. Youan." Laura’s expression had grown inexplicably grim, as if she had already realized something. She looked at Tang Youan and asked in a pointed tone, "Why would the records state that Tang Youning’s birth mother was a male omega?"

"No, it doesn’t end here," Tang Youan subconsciously clenched his right hand, letting out a mirthless laugh. "Actually, bearing an Elite Alpha child has always been a dark unspoken rule among us. Because of that, Aunt He, desperate and calculating, needed to maximize her chances of conceiving an Elite Alpha."

Hearing the last sentence, Xu Zhangying also understood. He stared into Tang Youan’s eyes—this time, the other man didn’t evade. An indescribable emotion flickered in his gaze before he slowly continued:

"So Youning’s mother didn’t choose her own genes. Instead, she selected the genes of a Latin American Elite male omega from the LEBEN Society and underwent in vitro fertilization with Tang Xinyi."

"Therefore, Aunt He is both Youning’s birth mother… and not his birth mother."

In an instant, an icy dread seeped into the chest of everyone in the room. They couldn’t fathom someone literally gambling their future on a child—even going so far as to bear a child genetically unrelated to them just to win that gamble.

—"It’s not that strange. There are plenty of people like that in the world. I don’t particularly like my mother either."

The face and words of the Tang family’s Elite Alpha, boredly propping his chin in a high-end Abu Dhabi restaurant, suddenly resurfaced in the minds of Zhao Yang and the others.

What weight did "mother" even carry to Tang Youning?

The mother who gave birth to him had no blood relation to him, treating him as a lottery ticket bought at the cost of her own body.

And the male omega who was biologically related to him didn’t even know each other's names or appearances.

"Snap."

A soft sound shattered the silence of the meeting room. The ballpoint pen in Xu Zhangying's hand broke in half. Zhao Yang looked up at the noise, only to see bright red drops of blood welling up between Xu Zhangying's fingers.

"But," Xu Zhangying said expressionlessly, his voice icy as he stared at Tang Youan, "Tang Youning didn't present as an omega until he was 14."

For a moment, even Laura froze. It took everyone a moment to realize just how horrifying this revelation was.

"Yes," Tang Youan could no longer meet his friend's gaze. He lowered his head and murmured, "His mother was an alcoholic at the time."

"Even after being taken back to the Tang family in 2011, Aunt He still hasn’t quit drinking to this day."

-

Pacific Ocean, Juan de Fuca Strait.

The North Pacific at night resembled an endless, chaotic abyss. The glow of the modern cruise ship, a symbol of civilization, seemed like a mere candle flame in a storm, unable to pierce through the darkness.

The sound of sleet hitting the cabin was almost inaudible. The Elite Alpha in a black puffer jacket leaned against the railing of the cabin balcony, staring down at the deck dozens of meters below.

"It's so cold."

Tang Youning thought.

"It's summer where Senior is," he murmured to himself, tilting his head back to gaze at the equally pitch-black sky. The tiny snowflakes struck his face, instantly melting into icy droplets.

How strange. Had Senior really not thought of him at all? He'd always remembered before.

-

"You have to hold onto Senior’s clothes, okay? There are too many people—be careful not to get lost."

At 14, Xu Zhangying was already tall, almost as tall as an adult.

His hands were big too, and warm.

When 10-year-old Tang Youning grabbed the back of Xu Zhangying’s shirt, he found himself thinking: if only he could fast-forward four years, then he’d be that tall too.

Winter, 2009.

"Mom," 12-year-old Tang Youning stood at the bedroom door, "did you buy me the white sneakers?"

"Thud." It might have been a wallet or a compact—whatever it was, it hit Tang Youning’s forehead first before bouncing off the doorframe.

"...Mom? Who’s your mom? Your real mom’s a male escort in South America... worthless bastard..."

As the woman’s curses grew quieter, Tang Youning hoisted his backpack over his shoulder, tilted his head, and scanned the dresser for a moment before finally pocketing a pair of earrings.

At the luxury consignment counter in the mall, the bespectacled middle-aged owner counted out the money for Tang Youning. "Two thousand three. Count it, kid. No take-backs once you leave."

"Thank you, uncle," Tang Youning shoved the money directly into his pocket. "It’s enough."

"Enough for what?" The owner looked puzzled.

"Enough for sneakers," Tang Youning adjusted his backpack straps and headed straight for the sneaker store in the mall.

During gym class, Tang Youning hung from the monkey bars and realized he’d grown quite a bit taller over the past two years.

"I thought we’d get to see Senior Xu Zhangying before winter break," a girl sitting on the field nearby complained. "What kind of school idol never shows up at school?"

"Can't be helped, Senior Zhangying has to attend training camp. But the joint exams are in a month—once they're over, he'll be at school more often."

"Didn’t you hear? There’s a mock exam today—we might actually bump into Senior..."

Tang Youning had already transferred to this school two months ago, yet he hadn’t seen Xu Zhangying even once. His initial excitement had faded into disappointment, and eventually, he grew used to it.

Every day was the same—girls and omegas kept saying they might see Xu Zhangying that day, but he was never there.

Tang Youning swung upside down from the horizontal bar, gazing at the upside-down school building. He couldn’t help but think that even if he did see Senior Zhangying, the older boy might not recognize him anymore.

It had been so long since he’d last seen Xu Zhangying. He wondered how much he’d changed—if he still looked the way he remembered.

A whistle blew.

Tang Youning dropped from the bar, grabbed his water bottle, and merged into the crowd of students in identical uniforms, crossing the field toward the school building.

And that was when Xu Zhangying appeared.

He had changed a lot. Though only two years had passed, the 16-year-old Xu Zhangying already carried himself like a grown man. He carried a large art portfolio, surrounded by fellow art students with similar gear, chatting and laughing as they walked toward Tang Youning under the sunlight.

Tang Youning thought he heard someone nearby say something, but he couldn’t catch it. He just stood there, rooted to the spot, watching Xu Zhangying—still smiling—walk straight toward him.

"Sorry, are you okay?" Xu Zhangying had been chatting with his classmates and automatically apologized when he accidentally bumped into a younger student.

After the apology, Xu Zhangying turned away and kept walking. Tang Youning felt the burn from the sun on his face and idly rubbed his cheek before lowering his head and continuing forward.

"Hey!"

A voice—similar but not quite the same—called out from behind him.

Tang Youning turned around and saw the Elite Alpha whirl around on the school building steps, his expression equal parts surprised and delighted.

Then, he loudly called out the name Tang Youning had at 12.

"Lu Heguang!"

"Wow, what are you doing in Guangzhou?!"

Lu Heguang felt himself swept into a bear hug, then the same hands—still much larger than his own after two years—cradled his face and tousled his hair.

"You should’ve told me you transferred here!"

"Did you not recognize me? I’m Xu Zhangying," the 16-year-old said, leaning down to tap his own cheek with a grin.

"But I remember you! You’ve gotten so tall, but your face is exactly the same."

Before they could say much else, Xu Zhangying’s art classmates began urging him to hurry—they had a bus to the mock exam to catch.

Xu Zhangying squeezed Lu Heguang’s hand. "I’m in Class A of the third year. If you need anything, come find me."

"Really?"

"Of course! Zhao Yang and Xia Qing from before are in my class too—you can hang out with them as well."

With that, Xu Zhangying, still carrying his oversized backpack, waved at Lu Heguang.

-

"I’ll come find you once I’m done with exams. See you later!"

A soft creak sounded as the cabin door of the cruise ship opened. Warm, dim light spilled out, only to be swallowed by the icy sea breeze. "Damn, it’s cold—wait, seriously?" Tang Yingshao, bundled in his down jacket, looked horrified as he exclaimed, "Boss, are you crying?!"

"I hate winter, and I hate the sea," Tang Youning snapped.

"We won’t bump into that Beta Commissioner here, boss. Even if you cry now, he won’t see it. Save the theatrics," Tang Yingshao rubbed his arms, "And this act is disgusting."

"Senior likes me this way, so I like it this way."

As he spoke, the cabin door closed.

But the next second, Tang Yingshao poked his head out again and said to the Emperor, who was about to continue moping around, "So, how long are you planning to cry? When can we get to work? They’re asking how to handle Octavius’s men—"

"—Why ask me about this? Just throw them into the sea!"

Tang Youning stood on the deck, the sea wind tousling his hair. His eyes were red as he glared angrily at the black-clad men and Tang Yingshao inside the cabin. "Piss off! Get away from me! I hate alphas!"

-

In the summer of 2014, Tang Youning sprinted down the hospital corridor, the family secretary behind him struggling to keep pace.

"Hey, stop! Which patient are you here for? What’s the patient’s name?"

The nurse at the emergency room entrance stood up, tugging her mask up while eyeing the young man with suspicion and wariness.

The 17-year-old Tang Youning stared at the emergency department sign, clutching his phone.

"Bed 34, Xu Zhangying."

The nurse checked the records, glanced at Tang Youning, then swiped her ID card at the door. "His brother?"

"What?"

The nurse pulled open the door. "I’m asking if you’re Xu Zhangying’s brother."

"Yes."

"Hurry in. What took you so long? We almost called the police. A dysregulation syndrome patient shouldn’t be wandering around—"

Tang Youning’s heart pounded violently in his chest. He hardly processed the nurse’s words—all he wanted was to see how bad his injuries were—

The moment he stepped into the room, that voice rang in his head again.

"Are you sure you want to redeem this wish? Only the Emperor gets one wish."

Tang Youning turned to look at the empty hallway, then hurried into the emergency room without looking back.

"I’m sure. Nothing else matters."