Chapter 15 Recommended to Do

Chapter 15: The Suggestion

Chen Su had been camping out in the lab for over ten days straight, going to the nearest hotel after work to catch a nap in a cheap motel room. The closest hotel to the Drug Supervision Bureau was a good half-hour drive from the Bureau, and he'd be back in the lab by eleven.

He had been too tired lately, and tonight he'd finally blown off some steam. Putting on his gloves, he hid his left hand under his right, pressing his fingertips against the tattooed back of his hand, gently rubbing it—a position of extreme wariness.

But calmed by his pheromones, Chen Su quickly fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day, it was already noon.

A fresh set of clothes and gloves sat on the nightstand.

After washing up, Chen Su went downstairs. The butler said the Bureau had already called in sick for him.

Lunch was light and nourishing. The chef really knew his stuff, and Chen Su had two extra bowls of soup. After eating, he dabbed his mouth and asked, "Mr. Zhao..."

"The Director left early this morning."

The butler took it in stride. "The Director is always swamped with work and rarely rests." Not even during his rut was an exception.

Chen Su caught sight of the trash bin again—a bunch of used suppressant syringes in there.

-

At the General Bureau.

"Jinzong..." Tan Zhou came in flipping through files. As soon as he pushed open the door, the Enigma's incense pheromones were so thick he felt ready to lose control, like he was about to snap.

Tan Zhou's legs went weak. He immediately dropped the files, pulled out a syringe from a hidden drawer in the bookcase, and injected it into Zhao Jinzong.

Drowning in the incense pheromones, Tan Zhou's forehead broke into a sweat. "What's going on with your pheromones? Even during rut, they shouldn't be this strong."

He shot a look at the bin. "Didn't you already jab yourself with suppressants?"

Pheromones too strong to suppress usually come down to two things: First, during rut, your bonded partner isn't around and you're craving their pheromones. Second, your gland is damaged and your pheromones are out of whack.

Tan Zhou looked at Zhao Jinzong's monitoring watch. His eyes went wide in shock...

He caught the alert on the watch screen.

"According to monitoring, your anterior gland concentration is way too high. Rut detected. It is recommended to seek S3-level fir alpha comfort."

"Fastest fix: get laid."

"Wait... no, that can't be right—" Tan Zhou walked a full circle around Zhao Jinzong. "Why would the monitor suggest 'get laid'? Shouldn't it be telling you to go find an alpha to mark you? And how does it even know you're so compatible with that fir alpha?"

That watch was super smart, giving alerts based on the user's info. Like, it could tell which pheromones made the wearer feel good, and if they had a temporary or permanent mark.

The watch knowing about the fir alpha meant Chen Su and Zhao Jinzong had been together recently. Not only that—Zhao Jinzong had marked Chen Su.

Tan Zhou's face went serious. He rested his hand on Zhao Jinzong's chair back and thought carefully. "You and Chen Su... uh... did you force-mark him? Was that... last month, when you went to pay respects at the Sheng house?"

"It wasn't forced."

"..."

Tan Zhou took a second to process that. "No wonder you let Sheng Chenghua into the Bureau. You never pull strings for anyone." He sucked in another breath. "This... kinda feels like we owe the Sheng family."

Sheng Beiqing had just passed away, and Zhao Jinzong had marked the wife he doted on—it really went against...

Given the circumstances, he owed the Sheng family a spot.

Zhao Jinzong corrected. "He marked me."

"...?" Tan Zhou raised an eyebrow. "Huh?—So you're the innocent victim here?"

"Not exactly innocent."

"Did you seduce him? But Chen Su turned you down before. That doesn't make sense."

"..."

"Does the Sheng family know?"

"..."

"He's been sleeping in the lab every night. He dodging you?"

"No."

"Better not be. Chen Su works for my Bureau now... Even if your chemistry is off the charts, you need to respect what he wants. You and Beiqing grew up together. He's an alpha who married another alpha despite all the gossip—letting go of that won't come easy."

"Jinzong, don't make him public enemy number one."

Tan Zhou said worriedly, "Chen Su doesn't have the power of the Zhao or Sheng families behind him. He's got nowhere to fall back to."

Zhao Jinzong nodded. "I'm not going to let him get hurt on my watch."

Zhao Jinzong flipped through the files Tan Zhou had brought, then threw them aside. "Redo it. I want a new research direction in three weeks."

"Where am I supposed to pull a research direction out of? Might as well jab myself and lie in a hospital bed so you can study me."

"Fine—if you can replicate that illegal agent from ten years ago."

"……………" Tan Zhou grabbed the files off the table. "I'm putting Chen Su on this project. He can be our pretty face, and also keep the team from dropping dead from overwork."

Tan Zhou left. That afternoon, he called a team meeting. After it ended, he had someone bring him Chen Su's employee file. The second he spotted the hometown field, he immediately closed the folder and frantically called Chen Su to his office.

"You're from Huaicheng?"

"Yes."

"How old were you ten years ago?"

"Eighteen."

"Old enough to remember stuff." Tan Zhou asked, "Ten years ago, there was that drug experiment in Huaicheng. Did you know about it?"

"Yes." Chen Su's tone was wistful, laced with bitterness. "Didn't think the Bureau still remembered that."

Huaicheng was a dirt-poor county. No one knew that under a stainless-steel factory there was a hidden basement. Inside that basement, a bunch of omegas were being tormented with illegal drugs. After the Four Bureaus investigated and rescued them, most of them had their glands wrecked and didn't have long to live.

Bureau officials took the secret files and took those omegas away.

The Huaicheng drug experiment was swept under the rug. Few knew about it—mostly the families of the victims.

Tan Zhou said solemnly, "The fifth of April (lunar calendar). The Bureau will never forget."

"What about those subjects now...?"

"Only one is left."

Ten years ago, those suffering omegas volunteered to be test subjects for the illegal drugs, giving other injectors of the illegal substances a chance to survive. But now, out of the eleven test subjects, only one remains, and they are now at death's door.

With severe gland damage, surviving for ten years is already incredibly rare.

Tan Zhou asked, "Do you have family who..."

"Not very close, but I know some things."

"Mm." Tan Zhou then asked, "Are you willing to join our project team?"

"Alright." Chen Su nodded, and Tan Zhou handed the confidentiality documents to Chen Su for his signature.

After signing, Tan Zhou called the deputy team leader to come.

The deputy leader was younger than Chen Su expected, sharp-dressed and polished, the very picture of a studious researcher. In his early thirties, he glanced coldly at Chen Su's badge, his eyes narrowing with disdain.

"Director Tan, I don't think the project needs any new people," he said.

Chen Su smiled, his words sharp and incisive: "After ten years of research, the project hasn't made any progress; only a miracle worker could fix it now."

Tan Zhou immediately felt that things weren't going well. He never figured Chen Su would be so confrontational, and by now it was too late to undo it.

After all, which alpha was ever a pushover?

"Chen Su is from Huaicheng. I've decided. Meng Suizhi, put together a data report from the last two years and give it to Chen Su to review."

Meng Suizhi looked at Chen Su and said, "I hope this new guy, who got in through his connections at the Detection Bureau, can actually make sense of it."

Meng Suizhi stormed off.

For once, Tan Zhou played peacemaker: "That's just how researchers are."

"No, that's how people who can't get results act." Chen Su left.

"......?" Tan Zhou began to regret his decision. He felt like he had invited a real troublemaker.

He was thinking of sending him back to Zhao Jinzong.

After the office door closed, Tan Zhou sat down, staring at the stacks of papers on the table, and let out a soft sigh. Now that the last test subject was at death's door, this project team, set up ten years ago, might soon be shut down. What about all those people who were injected with the illegal drugs back then?

Would they just be left to rot?

That was way too cruel.

If that was the case, then what was the Drug Supervision Bureau even for?

Suddenly, Tan Zhou thought of something and told someone to dig up Chen Su's records from Huaicheng.