Chapter 34 Not a Discussion

Chapter 34: Not a Discussion

Meng Suizhi poured Chen Su a glass of water, leaned against the table, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and asked, "Did General Director Zhao put a mark on you?"

"I bit him when I was sick. It was an accident."

Chen Su wasn't the type to open up easily, but he could trust Meng Suizhi. He knew Meng Suizhi's secret—it felt more like a fair trade.

"You want to wash off the mark? I wouldn't advise that. As far as I know, the last alpha who formed a mark with an Enigma at the Federal General Administration suffered permanent damage to their gland from trying to remove it. There's a reason the Federation requires Enigmas to provide pheromone comfort to the people they've marked."

"An Enigma's mark is almost impossible to completely get rid of. Even though a temporary mark only lasts three months, do you know how likely it is that an Enigma will re-mark their partner during their rut in that time?"

Chen Su braced himself. "How much?"

"97%." That's terrifying.

During those three months with a temporary mark, an Enigma's dependence on their partner during rut increases exponentially. Alphas or omegas who wash off the mark also have a high chance of their rut coming back, so secondary marking rates stay high.

An Enigma's mark is far more powerful than that of an S3-level alpha.

"What about the other 3%?"

"Because the alpha or omega forcibly washes off the mark, damaging the gland, making them permanently unmarkable."

"..." Chen Su took a breath and asked, "If an Enigma who has marked a partner can't get pheromone comfort and has to use suppressants to get through their rut, would it be really painful?"

"No Enigma can manage that. I guarantee it. Trust me."

Even if the partner's gland is damaged, the Enigma will do everything to torment the partner's dried-up gland, following instinct to extract pheromones, searching for the gland, and completing a secondary mark.

"..."

"We're both scientists. The data speaks for itself." Meng Suizhi pulled out a stack of files and handed them to Chen Su.

There were very few cases in the files because Enigmas were already rare. It took a lot of connections for Meng Suizhi to finish this data collection.

After reading them, Chen Su closed the file. "Thank you."

Meng Suizhi warned, "Chen Su, an Enigma's mark is extremely troublesome. If you don't want to get too involved with General Director Zhao, you can apply for help from the Alpha Federation."

"That's fine."

Chen Su left. The next day, he took leave and went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to update his marital status.

"Married" was changed to "Widowed."

Chen Su didn't expect that the next day, his rut would hit—right there in the lab.

Chen Su jabbed himself with a suppressant, his gland aching so bad he almost blacked out.

He had already used three special serums to wash off the mark, but just as Meng Suizhi said, an Enigma's mark is hard to completely get rid of and tends to come back.

Chen Su desperately needed Zhao Jinzong's pheromones.

With a chaotic pheromone that couldn't be clearly identified as rut or heat, Chen Su headed toward Zhao Jinzong's General Bureau.

Chen Su felt his pheromones leaking out little by little, which was terrifying. If anyone smelled his rut pheromones, they would surely guess who his partner was.

In the capital, there's only one Enigma.

And that Enigma was his ex-husband's friend, a family friend of his ex-husband's family.

This wasn't right. Zhao Jinzong's reputation could easily get ruined.

Chen Su had left after injecting the suppressant. He had never felt the road from the Drug Supervision Bureau to the General Bureau was so long... so long that the suppressant seemed to barely work before it was about to wear off.

Chen Su arrived at the General Bureau building.

An alpha staff member stopped him anyway. Chen Su said, "I'm looking for General Director Zhao."

Chen Su's breathing was unsteady.

The alpha sensed something odd and eyed him warily. "Are you in rut?"

"......Yeah."

It wasn't uncommon for alphas in rut to seek out Zhao Jinzong. If the compatibility was high and Zhao Jinzong favored them, it was a golden opportunity. The alpha was used to it.

This alpha in front of him was the best-looking one he'd seen in the past month.

The alpha asked routinely, "Do you have an appointment?"

The alpha glanced at Chen Su's badge—"Chen Su, Drug Supervision Bureau."

The alpha's pupils dilated. "Chen Su?"

The alpha immediately let him through. "The General Director is in a meeting in Bureau Four, not in his office. He said if you came, you could wait in his office."

"Yeah."

Chen Su broke out in a cold sweat and strode into the elevator.

Chen Su rode to the top floor and headed straight to Zhao Jinzong's office.

In Zhao Jinzong's office, traces of incense pheromones lingered. Chen Su felt much better.

But the faint pheromones were far from enough to soothe an alpha in rut.

Chen Su took out his phone and messaged Zhao Jinzong:

"I'm in your office."

"When does the meeting end?"

"Can I get some of your pheromones?"

-

Zhao Jinzong's phone vibrated on the table, the screen lighting up again and again. That was weird. He glanced at it, and his brows furrowed when he read the messages.

Tan Zhou, nearby, saw Zhao Jinzong pick up his phone and thought, *Weird.*

Zhao Jinzong never looked at his phone during meetings. What was happening today?

Zhao Jinzong replied, "Are you in rut?"

Chen Su: "Yeah, I feel terrible."

Zhao Jinzong glanced at his watch. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Zhao Jinzong slid the phone into his pocket, looked up, and called out, "Stop. Pause for a moment. The meeting is postponed to next week."

The alpha onstage froze—he was already mid-presentation.

Meetings of the Four Bureaus were rare, but there had never been a precedent for pausing a meeting. Everyone in attendance was an outstanding talent in their field, and time was precious.

Zhao Jinzong called out, "Stop," and the others looked like they wanted to speak but held back.

Zhao Jinzong wasn't discussing or asking—it was an order.