Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The unlocked door swung open easily, and pheromones, erupting like molten lava, assaulted Lin Ze's senses.

Lin Ze lifted his head painfully...

An exceptionally tall, fearsomely intimidating alpha was staring down at him, his eyes gleaming with a chilling light...

Lin Ze jolted violently.

Him...

Yet reason was soon engulfed and devoured by the scorching waves of pheromones,

reducing him to a heat-crazed omega...

Burning, heavy breaths, complete suppression from behind...

Prying apart...

Lin Ze's pupils contracted sharply...

...

"Is the General in any danger?"

Outside the tightly shut door, Fu Zhi asked, his voice cold.

As the General's special assistant, Fu Zhi had just returned from a business trip when he heard that Captain Liu had been shot and killed, and the alpha had entered his rut at the scene of Liu Guang's assassination.

"As soon as the gunshots rang out, the entire villa went into a state of alert. The General is unharmed," two bodyguards replied, their heads bowed and voices trembling.

"Then why did the General suddenly enter his rut?"

"The scene was chaotic. An omega accidentally released their pheromones..."

Fu Zhi snapped, "Oh, so you're saying the General was affected by low-level pheromones?"

The guard was startled and quickly shook his head. "That omega's pheromones were strange. In the panic, other omegas also released their pheromones, but none of them affected the General. Only this one..."

Fu Zhi's expression turned grave as he stared at the door. "How long have they been inside?"

"A full 72 hours."

Three days.

Fu Zhi sucked in a sharp breath.

The omega is probably going to be fucked to death.

But now, no one dared to knock on the door. They could only wait for the alpha to pass through his rut.

"Who assassinated Captain Liu?" Fu Zhi asked again.

"Unknown. But according to Captain Liu's attendants, he was with his classmate at the time. After Captain Liu was shot, his classmate disappeared without a trace."

"Vanished into thin air within the villa."

"How could a living person just disappear?"

As soon as Fu Zhi finished speaking, a sense of foreboding washed over him.

Even the Prime Minister of Country A had to tread carefully around the Li family, especially after Li Xiujin became the third head. How could anyone, on the orders of a mere captain, dare to search Li Xiujin's room...

Could the omega in the room be...

"Who was Liu Guang's classmate?"

"It was Lin Ze, Colonel Lin, who participated in the Regeneration Plan seven years ago."

Lin Ze...

The name struck Fu Zhi as exceptionally familiar. He instructed, "Guard this place. Notify me immediately once the General regains his senses."

"Yes."

*

A faint, almost inaudible gasp came from the dark room.

Lin Ze opened his eyes from the pain. He couldn't see anything, but he could clearly feel the alpha's scorching presence and the powerful, formidable body pressed tightly against his own.

Fragmented memories flashed through his mind.

Being utterly suppressed, submitting beneath the alpha's pheromones.

Kneeling on the bed, raising his hips...

Lin Ze's shoulders trembled slightly...

How did things come to this...

But in this situation, he couldn't afford to wallow in his shame for too long. Carefully pushing the alpha away, he got out of bed.

Opening the door alerted the two bodyguards outside. Just as they were about to speak, Lin Ze swiftly raised his hands and knocked them unconscious. He pulled the jacket off one of them, put it on, and hurried away with his head down...

The villa was still in a state of disorder. No one noticed him. Disguised as one of the alpha's bodyguards, Lin Ze smoothly exited the villa. After walking a few meters, he hailed a car.

Once in the car, the driver kept glancing at him with a strange look. Lin Ze didn't know what he was looking at, nor did he have the mind to think about it. He weakly closed his eyes...

Half an hour later, he returned to where he lived.

The slums of Country A.

Filthy streets, men urinating against walls and spitting everywhere, emaciated but vicious-looking stray animals.

Lin Ze turned into the most dilapidated building in the alley and limped upstairs.

Two people were standing at his door, quite young, wearing police uniforms. Upon seeing him, they immediately raised their guns.

"Hands up. Don't move."

He had anticipated what awaited him long before returning. Liu Guang was assassinated while they were together; he certainly couldn't escape interrogation.

Lin Ze lowered his eyes and complied. "I need to take a shower."

The two exchanged a glance. "Don't try any tricks."

Lin Ze shook his head.

Lin Ze opened the door, fetched a set of clean clothes, and entered the bathroom. The two officers stood guard outside.

The cold water splashed out.

Lin Ze took off his wrinkled clothes and then saw his reflection in the mirror.

His hair was disheveled, his pale face flushed with a feverish redness, covered densely with hickeys and bruises from fingers.

Dried fluids trailed down his inner thighs...

No wonder the driver had given him that look...

Probably mistaking him for an omega who had been used by an alpha.

Lin Ze covered his face in shame...

After his shower, Lin Ze was brought back to the police station.

During the interrogation, Lin Ze told them exactly what he had seen, but otherwise remained silent.

Under orders from above not to use torture on this person, the officers had no choice but to hold him for now.

*

Meanwhile, Fu Zhi wrapped up his investigation and hurried back to the villa.

Two bodyguards were kneeling before Li Xiujin.

Li Xiujin took his time buttoning his shirt.

The omega was nowhere to be seen, only a pile of bulging, knotted condoms scattered on the floor, proof of the chaos of the night.

Fu Zhi swallowed hard, "General."

Li Xiujin draped his coat over his shoulders, walked to the window, bit a cigarette and lit it.

Fu Zhi muttered to the guards, "What happened? Where is he?"

"We were... knocked out, and he escaped..."

The guards around Li Xiujin were professionally trained, yet they had been taken down so easily.

Fu Zhi remembered what he'd dug up on Lin Ze: raised in a military academy since childhood, he had followed his teacher into hazard zones at sixteen, then steadily climbed the ranks to become a colonel.

His agility was undeniable.

"Useless," Fu Zhi said. "Get out."

The guards immediately left.

After they were gone, Li Xiujin finished his cigarette and said hoarsely, "An alpha who goes into heat..."

Fu Zhi had left precisely to investigate this. Lin Ze had always presented himself as an alpha. At the peak of his fame, many omegas had wanted to marry him, and the one he eventually became engaged to was also an omega.

"Very few people know this. Lin Ze is actually a rare alpha-omega hybrid. When he first differentiated, he was confined for study. After that, his teacher covered it up, and he presented himself as an alpha."

After listening, Li Xiujin instructed:

"Arrange a meeting with Zhai Dong for me."

Fu Zhi was taken aback.

Zhai Dong was the Chief Inspector of A Country's police department. He had invited Li Xiujin before, but Li Xiujin had turned him down cold. Why the sudden change now...

It quickly dawned on him.

On the way back, following Li Xiujin's usual habit, he turned on the news channel in the car and heard the report about Lin Ze being arrested and temporarily detained at A Country's police department...

Arrested...

Although this was expected, Fu Zhi's breath still hitched slightly.

If this had happened to the Lin Ze of seven years ago, everyone would have believed he was an innocent victim. But the Lin Ze of seven years later was viewed by the public as vile, the one who had personally killed his comrade. With Liu Guang's sudden death, even if there was evidence proving Lin Ze didn't do it, the public probably wouldn't believe it.

Fu Zhi quickly skimmed through the comments under the news. Sure enough, most people believed Lin Ze had conspired with others to kill Liu Guang.

So, was their General meeting Zhai Dong simply for a meal, or to rescue that alpha who went into heat?

Fu Zhi couldn't read anything from the other's expression, but he did notice that at some point, a dagger had appeared in his hand.

The dagger was very small, its blade glinting piercingly. One could almost imagine how this sharp blade could easily slit an enemy's artery.

Yet General Li seemed unaware of its sharpness, running the pad of his thumb back and forth over the edge. Even as it bled, he showed no reaction...

He simply lowered his gaze, staring motionlessly at the dagger...

*

The detention center late at night was so quiet it was almost soporific.

Two guards on duty, trying to stay alert, chatted while smoking.

"I have a cousin who was a huge fan and even applied to Huahai Military Academy because of him."

"Don't just talk about your cousin. I watched his interviews from a few years ago and admired him too. Now I feel like an idiot."

"But to get back to that, what exactly happened seven years ago?"

"Have you heard of the Regeneration Plan? With energy becoming increasingly scarce, the Regeneration Plan involved digging for energy sources deep in dangerous zones. Back then, Lin Ze led the team, and the members were his teacher and classmates. But after they reached their destination, their communication was cut off. When they got back in touch, they received a video showing his teacher and classmates lying on the ground, covered in blood, while Lin Ze held a dagger. Later, the autopsy confirmed that the injuries on the victims matched that dagger."

"And this murderer even lied, saying he didn't remember anything."

"Did he really not remember?"

"Anyway, they interrogated him for over a month, and he didn't break. In the end, apart from that video, they couldn't find sufficient evidence of his murder, so they had to release him."

"Isn't that evidence enough? What more do they need?"

"Can't help it. The law requires it."

"Damn."

"Sigh, anyway, he's paid the price. So many people admired and liked him before, but now he's completely a pariah."

"Serves him right."

Every word of the clear conversation reached Lin Ze's ears. He shifted on the hard bed and slowly drifted into sleep.

In his dream, he returned to his days at the military academy.

As the squad leader, he was responsible for managing every member. Chen Zhi loved slacking off, so he had to push him. Yang Zhi had a girlfriend and would sneak out for dates when he wasn't looking.

For things that didn't affect training, he would cover for them, but his teacher still found out.

His teacher punished him, then later made him his favorite steamed cake, earnestly lecturing him: if he spoiled them like this, what would happen on the battlefield?

Orphaned at ten, he was taken to the military academy by his teacher. Nearly a decade of love and kindness vanished when he turned twenty, at the peak of his life.

Rain began to fall in the dream.

Three days later, he was escorted out by police officers. Expecting to face trial, he instead met a lawyer.

"Hello, Colonel Lin."

"I am no longer Colonel Lin," Lin Ze corrected him.

The lawyer smiled and continued.

"I am a lawyer hired at great expense to defend you."

Lin Ze lowered his head, thinking mockingly to himself—how could someone as heinous as him deserve a defense lawyer?

As if reading his thoughts, the lawyer said, "Everyone has human rights, even if you did kill Liu Guang."

"Colonel Lin, my client asked me to tell you: if you want to uncover the truth, you must first stay alive and remain free."

Lin Ze finally looked at him. "...Who hired you?"

"You'll find out after you're released."

"For the following questions, please hold nothing back."

"Alright."

After the meeting, Lin Ze was repeatedly interrogated about the details of that day in the office. He answered truthfully, his pale, calm face reflected in the glass.

The day before the verdict, the chief inspector personally came to the interrogation room.

"Minister Zhai."

"Good day, Minister."

The officers in charge greeted him respectfully. Zhai Dong waved them away and sat before Lin Ze.

Five years ago, he had met Lin Ze. Back then, Lin Ze was full of ambition, radiating boundless hope—a spirit that was truly inspiring.

But now...

He sighed inwardly. For someone his age, witnessing the fall of a prodigy brought deep regret.

He conducted the interrogation by the book, then left. Outside, he made a call.

After hanging up, he remained puzzled. Why would someone like Li Xiujin go to such lengths to protect Lin Ze?

A few days later, Lin Ze was acquitted and released.

On the day of his release, the lawyer waited at the gate.

Beside the lawyer stood another man, also in a suit but of evidently higher rank. The lawyer treated him with utmost respect.

"Colonel Lin," the man greeted. "Hello, I am Fu Zhi, General Li's assistant."

Li...

A wave of intense unease washed over Lin Ze...

Fu Zhi smiled. "Our general wishes to see you."