Chapter 21

Chapter 21

>>Federal First Military Academy>>Rants and Chit-Chat>>

"Thread" Others have 8 AM classes, I have 7 AM. Others self-study, I run five kilometers. Are military cadets not human?

"Thread" Vote: Which school uniform do you think is the coolest? Current ranking: Heavy Armor > Combat Suit > Dress Uniform > Casual Wear

"Thread" I just want to fall in love, aaaaaah!

...

"Thread" Breaking News! Combat and Air-Ground Command departments duked it out!

OP: [Image][Image] They even released their spirit forms!

1L: Holy shit, what went down? It’s been ages since such a brawl—ever since, ahem, *a certain someone* took over the Disciplinary Department, the academy’s proud tradition of group fights vanished. How did these two departments end up clashing?

2L: Grabbing popcorn for this.

5L: Why isn’t anyone saying it… It’s obviously because of *him*—this section's current drama king.

6L: "Queen" fits better, don't you think?

8L: That newbie is something else. Barely a few days in, and he’s already wrecked Air-Ground Command's shit.

10L: Offended the instructor on enrollment day, bitch-slapped the Crown Prince on the first day of school, and now caused two departments to fight during orientation week. Is this guy some kind of chaos gremlin?

13L: That’s pretty bad.

15L: Come on, we’re ABO military cadets. Can’t we be a bit more capitalist? This section is way too medieval.

16L: Medieval? Nothing beats “Alpha daddies deserve Omega waifus, and I must bear a big, strong little Alpha for the family”—*that’s* peak feudalism.

18L: I’ve bled and sweated for the Federation—all I want is a warm home with a wife and kids. What’s it to you? Beta pencil-pushers, stop seeking attention or I’ll doxx your ass and slap you through the screen.

23L: The only "injury" was that newbie getting shoved. You call this a “fierce fight”? Much ado about nothing.

25L: Feels like the whole world knows the backstory except me. What’s with the riddles? Spill the tea already (and who *is* this newbie? I was on leave and just got back today).

27L: …

29L: ………

34L: Seriously, what’s with the ellipses? Just explain it already!

37L: …

39L: Shit, this ain't the private group. Let’s take this back to the secret group.

40L: Alright, boys, time to relocate.

>>Federal First Military Academy>>Private Group>>Caution: Campus Homewrecker>>

"Thread" Didn’t we agree not to post about *him* outside the group? Wanna get caught by him?

"Thread" [Link: http://Shocking! Combat and Air-Ground Command…] Nuke this post.

"Thread" Ugh, why does that Shen guy keep hovering around *him*?

"Thread" Update: Shen carried *him* to the infirmary!

"Thread" Am I seeing things? Why did *a certain someone* just walk out of the infirmary… looking like he just got laid?

"Thread" *He* finally left the infirmary. It’s just a five-kilometer run—why camp out there all morning? What a lightweight.

By this time, the cafeteria was already closed. After leaving the infirmary, Shi Jian headed straight back to the dorm, still sensing the covert stares along the way. He couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge them.

To his surprise, Fu Yan had saved him a meal, placing it on the small desk in their room. “I ran into Minister Gu while lining up at the cafeteria. He said you’d probably be back around now and used his meal card to get this for you.”

Opening the container, the smell of glazed meats and salty sides wafted out.

Shi Jian sat down, snapping apart disposable chopsticks while muttering criticisms. “Which chef caramelized this? This is culinary malpractice. And this spinach-tofu soup—that nasty bean funk is obvious even from a distance. Did they even bother to prep it? And this one, this one… So many issues. I should write a complaint to the principal demanding culinary training.”

Fu Yan awkwardly replied, “Uh… it’s a military academy… No matter the ranking, cafeteria food is always like this. At least they don’t serve abominations like cola-fried oranges. Alphas are cockroaches—we’ll grow big and strong on anything. Just bear with it.”

Sui Bian, however, wasn’t as tolerant of Shi Jian’s privileged attitude. He’d been silently cleaning his handgun on his bed, ignoring Shi Jian’s arrival until now. With a cold snort, he said, “Beggars can't be choosers, princess. Stop nitpicking—clearly, you’re not hungry enough.”

Fu Yan shot him a glare. “Why do you always act like you’ve got a grudge against Xiao Jian? He’s never done anything to you. Cut it out already!”

“Are you a masochist? You went out of your way to bring him food, even kept it warm against your chest, and he didn’t even say so much as a 'thanks'. Instead, he’s nitpicking like it's his job. For the physical exam later, don’t bother digging for your ID—just wear the clown nose already. Hah.”

As Fu Yan and Sui Bian bickered over him again, Shi Jian grew irritated. Tossing his chopsticks aside, he grabbed a jar of frozen locust honey from the fridge and threw it at Fu Yan. “Shut up. You're giving me a headache.”

Fu Yan barely caught the jar, staring at Shi Jian in disbelief.

Sui Bian sneered. “You think a jar of honey is enough to buy me over? Someone like you—”

“When did I say it was for you? Get over yourself.” Shi Jian cut him off coldly, his voice low and edged with an unspoken authority.

Sui Bian was left speechless, his face flushing red before he finally stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

The slam jolted Fu Yan back to reality. Touched yet apologetic, he murmured, “Thanks.”

“I’m not treating you like staff.”

Shi Jian’s abrupt statement made Fu Yan freeze again. Pressing his lips together, Shi Jian added stiffly, “That's just me being me. If something doesn’t meet my standards, I’ll point it out. It’s not personal.”

The scene was akin to a spoiled cat finally acknowledging its butler. Fu Yan found it both terrifying and oddly gratifying. Waving his hands, he stammered, “N-no… You don’t have to explain. And don’t mind Sui Bian—I did this because I wanted to. He’s just… grew up dirt-poor, really blunt, and has a thing against trust fund babies. But it’s not just you—he hates all of them equally.”

Once his excitement settled, Fu Yan met Shi Jian’s eyes earnestly. “Don’t doubt yourself. You deserve nice things.”

“…Gross.” After a long pause, Shi Jian could only mutter this before burying himself in his meal.

Fu Yan chuckled, watching his prickly blue-haired roommate with fondness.

The next morning, Shi Jian showed Shen Xingchuan the medical exemption from the school doctor, dodging the five-klick death march. Once his foot healed, he rejoined the drills without slacking off.

Muye knew better than to expect an E-level Alpha—especially one as pampered as Shi Jian—to match the class average overnight. As long as Shi Jian didn’t cause trouble, he looked the other way even when Shen Xingchuan ended up basically carrying his ass through the latter half of runs.

Yu Chen, released from confinement, was summoned back to the First Military District before he could retaliate against Shi Jian. Without his instigation, Shi Jian avoided further conflicts, and hell week ended without fireworks.

Green ginkgo leaves, blown onto the track by the wind, fluttered up whenever the squad ran past. By the time they landed again, sunrise or sunset had crisped them amber, ready for the janitors to sweep into piles.

The first semester focused on academics and physical training. When midterms arrived, Shi Jian’s results were lopsided: top marks in theory, but flunking phys-ed by a mile. He didn’t care, just smirked, ice-cold, at Muye’s frustration.

Compared to grades, Shi Jian struggled more with the awful food, crude dorms, torture-chart schedule, brutish instructors, and testosterone-poisoned meatheads.

His relationship with his roommates barely improved. He managed civil conversations with Fu Yan, but Sui Bian’s hostility only got more pissy after the door-slamming incident. The digs came daily, doubling down every time he got stonewalled—as if he was hellbent on erasing that brutal self-own.

This subjective social distancing was amplified by Shi Jian to encompass the entire Federal First Military Academy. Apart from Shen Xingchuan, he neither actively extended goodwill nor passively accepted anyone else. These pretentious cadets were nothing like the warm and outgoing Omegas from his previous school, who would boldly grab his hand and declare, "From today onward, we're best friends!" simply because he was good-looking.

Yet, he couldn’t help but feel gazes directed at him from every corner of the school, occasionally catching glimpses of camera flashes that failed to hide in time.

They never made eye contact—always one side secretly observing the other.

Shi Jian felt he could probably guess the reason. His rank made him a natural anomaly in Federal First Military Academy, like a poor waiter accidentally mixed into a crowd of the wealthy—conspicuous and out of place. And those of the same class would naturally unite to erase such an incongruous presence.

The only silver lining was that, having been constantly immersed in the high-concentration pheromones of these Alpha cadets, Shi Jian’s control over his own pheromones had improved significantly. He had finally learned how to retract and release them at will, and his immunity to pheromones below B-rank had also increased dramatically. His progress in this regard could be described as astonishing.

If Yu Chen hadn’t returned from the First Military Region, Shi Jian might have maintained this relatively peaceful state throughout his four years at the academy.

But not only did Yu Chen return with an ostentatious flair, he also happened to arrive just as the new Single Soldier Comprehensive Skills course was introduced after midterms. The moment he entered the base classroom with Xu Bai, he headed straight for Shi Jian.

"Seems like the Crown Prince has been living quite comfortably at the academy. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

Yu Chen braced one hand against the wall, with desks in front and behind, forming a barrier that isolated Shi Jian from the outside.

He leaned down, his fox-like smiling eyes flickering toward Shen Xingchuan, who was approaching with concern. His voice softened slightly, laced with amusement. "I remember telling the class before I left that the Crown Prince has a rather haughty personality and despises things like 'friends' that lower his standards, so they’d better not bother him. But it seems some people just don’t listen. Wouldn’t you agree?"

Shi Jian frowned, meeting his gaze with a warning. "I can play along with you. Leave others out of it."

"But he doesn’t seem to think the same way, does he?" Yu Chen smirked, turning to face Shen Xingchuan as if anticipating his words. He preemptively cut in, "Xu Bai tells me you’re the class monitor? No need to be so tense—I’m just catching up with Shi Jian. See? We’re having a great chat. Right, Shi Jian?"

Shi Jian pressed his lips together, his long lashes lowering to shutter his emotions.

He turned his face away, his body language telegraphing refusal.

Shen Xingchuan had heard about Yu Chen bullying Shi Jian in the public showers. Rumor had it that the incident was why Yu Chen had been summoned back to the First Military Region by his father. He didn’t know whether Yu Chen had faced any punishment at home, but it was obvious that the Crown Prince wouldn’t let things slide after suffering a loss at Shi Jian’s hands.

"Today marks the start of a new course. The academy has specially invited active military officers from the military to instruct first-years. The instructor just texted me that the new teacher will arrive soon. Yu Chen, why don’t you take your seat first and avoid disrupting class order?"

Yu Chen gave him a once-over before suddenly chuckling. "The class monitor really thinks I’m that unreasonable. Sure, I suffered quite a bit because some delicate Crown Prince whined to his father… but don’t worry, I wouldn’t hold a grudge over something so trivial."

To everyone’s surprise, Yu Chen backed off with unexpected ease, taking a nearby seat and chatting amiably with those around him, as if he had truly dropped the matter.

The oppressive pressure of a high-ranking Alpha vanished abruptly, yet Shi Jian remained in a defensive posture. Instead of relaxing, he only grew more uneasy.

Shen Xingchuan couldn’t quite grasp Yu Chen’s mercurial temperament either and could only offer reassurance. "He wouldn’t dare do anything to you in front of so many classmates and the new instructor. Don’t worry."

Despite his words, Shi Jian’s unease deepened. He didn’t understand what Yu Chen meant by "whining to daddy." As far as he was concerned, he had never mentioned anything related to Yu Chen to anyone except Gu Shiyun—and he had explicitly warned him not to relay it to his father.

Lost in thought, Shi Jian didn’t even hear the class bell. It wasn’t until the excited cheers of the Alphas erupted that he instinctively looked toward the entrance—and froze.

Yu Chen also leaned forward slightly, staring at the newcomer in surprise.

This… wasn’t this…

Wen Yuan walked in, dressed in the same black instructor’s uniform as Muye, a faint smile on his lips. Behind him trailed a heavily made-up Beta carrying a cosmetics case.

His gaze seemed to sweep over Shi Jian’s direction before he addressed the class warmly. "Hello, everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wen Yuan, meaning 'finding solace in obscurity.' I’m 24, a graduate of Federal First Military Academy, and currently serve in a unit under the Ninth Military Region. During my time at the academy and in active service, I’ve won first place in federal-level military shooting competitions. At the academy’s invitation, I’ll be your instructor for the Single Soldier Comprehensive Skills course over the next four years. I’ll teach you everything I know, and I hope you’ll all achieve great results."

The moment he finished, thunderous applause erupted in the spacious training hall. Shen Xingchuan led the cheers, his face flushed with excitement as he turned to Shi Jian. "Wow! The academy actually got Colonel Wen! He’s the ace sniper across all nine military regions! Rumor has it he once nailed ten consecutive bullseyes during a competition—stunned the judges. The video went viral with millions of views!"

Shi Jian’s initial shock gradually settled into something more complicated. *You don’t need to explain this to me.* "...I know."

"Know what? This is Wen Yuan! Colonel Wen! An S-rank offensive Alpha!" Shen Xingchuan gazed at Wen Yuan on the podium with reverence, enthusiastically recounting his heroic exploits before sighing regretfully. "Too bad active-duty officers’ spirit and special abilities are classified. Ordinary folks never get to know. I’m really curious—what kind of spirit would someone as easygoing as Colonel Wen have?"

Forced to endure several minutes of his rambling, Shi Jian’s eyes glazed over as he muttered dully, "*Black Mamba*."

"Black Mamba?... Hold on, where'd you hear that rumor? How could it be Black Mamba? He's never manifested his spirit outside combat—not even the biggest gossip forums could uncover it! And with his kind personality, it’s unlikely his spirit would be a venomous snake..."

Because I’ve always disliked his spirit being a reptile—cold, scaly, and ugly—so both he and his spirit have severe appearance anxiety.

Shi Jian opened his mouth but hesitated, and wasn’t sure if revealing the truth would be believed.

When the murmurs died down, Wen Yu'an gestured for the students to calm down and explained gently, "The Individual Combat Assessment assesses a soldier's combat capabilities when separated from the unit, whether on the battlefield or behind enemy lines. It emphasizes the development and cultivation of personal abilities. Every special forces cadet excels in this area. The subcategories include reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, firearm assembly and usage, and the application of SA in actual combat..."

Shi Jian, convinced these topics had nothing to do with him as an E-level Alpha, was nearly asleep.

Before anyone noticed, Wen Yu'an had moved near his seat while speaking, his voice growing clearer through Shi Jian's drowsiness: "I’ve placed 'reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance' as the first subject because, as future land-air combat officers, you must understand that details determine the outcome of battle. On the battlefield, against the enemy, you must maintain 100% sharp observation, missing nothing. A commander’s excellence lies not in personal strength but in making fewer mistakes than the opposing commander."

Wen Yu'an paused, then smiled, softening his tone: "Of course, for our first meeting, I won't bore you with theory—this is Ai Jie, a special effects makeup artist."

The beta bowed politely, and the students looked at him curiously.

A makeup artist? What’s he here for?

Yu Chen, legs crossed, got the alphas laughing: "Sir, reporting—are we disguising ourselves as omegas to seduce the enemy with charm? Do we need skirts, high heels, and sweet perfume too?"

Wen Yu'an neither affirmed nor denied his crude joke; he answered, smiling: "In scenarios like intelligence gathering or deep-cover rescues where disguise is necessary, which would draw more suspicion—a clearly trained Alpha, an unremarkable beta, or a delicate, harmless Omega? Or, if you suddenly needed help on the street, would you approach a beta, Omega, or Alpha first? The answer's obvious either way."

Yu Chen’s expression darkened at the rebuttal, and Shi Jian frowned in discomfort.

He knew Wen Yu'an was stating facts—betas were often plain, Omegas soft and cute—but coming from a chauvinistic Alpha, it left a bad taste.

Just like when he claimed Omegas belonged at home as Alpha wives, it gave Shi Jian the same unease.

As he was thinking this, a hand came down on his shoulder, and a familiar voice spoke from above: "Returning to Yu Chen’s question—disguise takes many forms. A rugged Alpha isn’t suited for feminine attire. Such an approach wouldn’t aid reconnaissance but would instead draw suspicion or get reported as indecent. We recommend disguises based on traits: youthful looks can pass as students, muscular builds as trainers, and less aggressive types as betas."

"Of course, if possible, disguising as an Omega would be the best choice."

Shi Jian’s mood sank with Wen Yu'an’s words, while Yu Chen and the other Alphas finally grasped the instructor’s intent, their gazes growing fervent.

Wen Yu'an looked down into Shi Jian’s eyes, his pale blue eyes widening in shock.

In contrast, his smile remained polished, his tone gentle: "So, Shi Jian, why don't you demonstrate for us?"

Shi Jian glimpsed the beta makeup artist approaching, his opened case revealing an array of feminine attire. His pupils shrank, and he instinctively refused: "I—"

The man who had acted like a stranger since entering the room suddenly leaned down, his broad frame blocking prying eyes.

His lips brushed the boy’s ear, breath hot, his coaxing laced with open threat: "After all, Xiao Jian used to be an Omega, didn’t you?"

The 'no' caught in Shi Jian's throat. Wide-eyed, he searched his foster brother’s gaze for even a hint of jest, clinging to the naive hope he’d laugh and say, "Just kidding," like before. But there was nothing.

Only the serpentine, icy, predatory darkness in Wen Yu'an’s vertical pupils, threatening to swallow him whole.

A chill swept through Shi Jian—this humiliation surpassed even that night in the public showers.