Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was four in the afternoon.

Wen Yanxu sat behind his desk, focused on his work, occasionally taking a sip of coffee—just like any other day.

Sunlight streamed through the window, bathing everything in a calm, peaceful light.

Wen Jueqian didn't feel reassured.

On the contrary, the closer the attack time in the plot got, the more tense he became.

He sat on the sofa, holding his light-brain device, not a single word on the screen registered in his mind.

Wen Yanxu seemed to sense something was off and looked up at him.

"What's wrong?"

Wen Jueqian forced a smile and shook his head. "Nothing."

Wen Yanxu didn't press further. He just got up, walked over, and sat down next to him, his hand naturally settling on his shoulder as he pulled him into a hug. The familiar warmth of the hug loosened the tension in Wen Jueqian's nerves a little.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Wen Jueqian pulled away from Wen Yanxu's arms and went to open the office door.

Jin Wang walked in, looking rushed.

He hurried over to Wen Yanxu, leaned in, and whispered something.

Wen Yanxu's brow furrowed slightly. He stood up and said to Wen Jueqian, "There's a problem at the lab. I need to head to a meeting."

Wen Jueqian stood up as well. "I'll go with you."

Wen Yanxu nodded, not objecting, then turned to tell Jin Wang to notify the attendees and get the meeting room ready.

They reached the meeting room together. The door was half-open, and someone was already waiting inside. Zhuang Yi was standing at the entrance and immediately stepped up to greet them.

Wen Jueqian stopped at the doorway. He shouldn't go in there.

Wen Yanxu understood this too, turning his head to look at him. "Wait for me in the lounge next door, okay?"

Wen Jueqian glanced at the slightly open door next to the meeting room and nodded.

"I'll be quick."

Wen Yanxu told Jin Wang, "Stay with Mr. Wen." Then he pushed the door open and went into the meeting room.

Wen Jueqian went into the lounge by himself.

The meeting room was soundproofed well—he couldn't hear a thing from inside. Footsteps occasionally passed by in the hallway, then quickly faded. As time went by, Wen Jueqian got more and more restless.

The sudden, unexpected turn of events set off alarm bells in his head.

The story had never mentioned anything going wrong at the lab before the Rustfire attack.

Just as he was thinking about that, there was a knock at the door.

Jin Wang came in carrying a tray with a glass of hot milk on it.

He had a warm, attentive look on his face, with just the right amount of concern: "Mr. Wen, the CEO's meeting might take a bit longer. Would you like a drink in the meantime?"

He set the milk down on the coffee table and explained, "The milk here at the research center is made from powdered milk—not as good as fresh milk from outside. Please make do with it for now."

Wen Jueqian glanced at the glass of milk, steam rising gently and carrying a faint milky smell.

At a time like this, he wasn't about to be picky. He picked up the cup and took a few sips to show he didn't mind.

Jin Wang sat down on a chair nearby, making no move to leave, as if he were keeping him company while they waited.

The milk was just the right temperature, and it spread a wave of warmth through his stomach.

Maybe hot milk really did help with anxiety—Wen Jueqian felt himself calm down a bit. The light outside the window slowly dimmed, the footsteps in the hallway grew fewer, and the whole space sank into a drowsy quiet.

His eyelids started to get heavy.

Wen Jueqian blinked, trying to stay awake. But the drowsiness only got stronger. His vision started to blur, and Jin Wang's figure sitting nearby started to double.

Something's off.

The thought crossed his mind, but his consciousness was already starting to slip away.

He used the last of his strength to raise his head and look at Jin Wang.

That face now showed no expression at all.

His eyes were cold, looking at him like he was just an object.

Wen Jueqian's consciousness sank fully into darkness.

A man in a security guard's uniform pushed the door open.

He glanced at Wen Jueqian slumped on the couch and said, "This drug really works."

Jin Wang frowned. "Don't say stuff you don't need to. Get him out of here first."

"Relax." The man walked over to the window and glanced outside.

"The surveillance is down for now. The meeting's about to turn into chaos—they won't notice anything here that fast."

The two worked together smoothly and quickly got Wen Jueqian out of the lounge.

————

Back in the meeting room, the meeting had been going on for over an hour.

Department heads gave their reports one after another. Wen Yanxu sat at the head of the table, listening closely, while Zhuang Yi scribbled notes next to him.

Just as one supervisor was reporting on production line data, a harsh scraping sound of a chair against the floor suddenly came from near the window.

Everyone turned to look.

Zhou Zhilin sat there, his face flushed bright red, large beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His fingers gripped the table with force, knuckles turning white, veins bulging on the backs of his hands.

Labored breathing was conspicuously loud in the silent meeting room.

"Dr. Zhou?" Wen Yanxu's voice carried a note of alertness.

Zhou Zhilin jerked his head up.

His eyes were shot through with red blood vessels, and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but only a low, suppressed growl escaped his throat.

Then, a thick burst of Alpha pheromones detonated in the conference room.

Everyone instantly realized what was happening—Zhou Zhilin's rut had hit full force.

"This meeting is over." Wen Yanxu shot to his feet, his voice sharp: "Everyone, stay away from him. Omegas, take your suppressants now!"

But it was too late.

Another A-grade Alpha's rut had kicked in as well.

He let out a low roar, shoved his chair back hard, the metal legs screeching against the floor, his whole body already radiating aggression.

The conference room erupted into chaos.

Two Omegas who hadn't gotten suppressants in time went limp in their seats, whimpering in pain. The Beta employees, though less affected by the pheromones, were still shaken by the sudden turn of events—some made a panicked dash for the exit.

"Nobody move! Stay put!" Wen Yanxu barked.

He ripped off the patch on the back of his neck.

An S-grade Alpha's pheromones flooded out like a tidal wave.

That crushing presence swept the whole room in an instant. Zhou Zhilin and the other Alpha, both out of control, visibly froze, roaring in agony as if pinned by invisible chains.

Wen Yanxu fought to suppress the heat and aggression churning inside him.

"Kill the ventilation system now—stop the pheromones from spreading!" His voice was hoarse from the effort.

The two Betas closest to the control panel fumbled with the controls, and the ventilation system's hum faded to silence.

Wen Yanxu turned to his secretary: "Zhuang Yi, get some people to escort the Omegas out of the conference room, hit them with strong suppressants, contact security and trigger the alert protocol."

"Got it!" Zhuang Yi moved immediately.

Wen Yanxu kept giving orders while using his pheromones to hold back the out-of-control Alphas.

Cold sweat broke out at his temples, his breathing quickening—he was getting affected too. He could feel his sanity slipping away, little by little.

But he couldn't afford to lose it.

The racket in the conference room was loud enough that Wen Jueqian, even with the lounge door shut, should have noticed something was off. Yet he still hadn't shown up.

Wen Yanxu pulled out his light device and tried Wen Jueqian.

Ring, ring, ring.

Nothing.

Wen Yanxu's eyes hardened. He turned to Zhuang Yi, his voice dropping to almost a whisper: "Go to the lounge next door and see if Wen Jueqian's there."

Zhuang Yi rushed out at once.

Security swarmed in, with the medical team right behind, who quickly jabbed the out-of-control Alphas with suppressants, strapped them down, and hauled them out fast.

The situation was finally under control, for now.

Just then, a young medical staff member suddenly shouted: "No—it's not just pheromones in the air!"

He held up a scanner, its screen flashing an ominous red: "There's an inducer in the mix too. The concentration is three times above the safe limit—the levels are highest near the vents!"

Wen Yanxu spun around.

In that moment, it all clicked.

This wasn't an accident. This was a carefully orchestrated plot.

"All Alphas and Omegas, get out of this area now!"

He strode toward the door first. "Get engineers to check the whole ventilation system now, especially this part of the conference room—find where the inducer is coming from!"

Orders came one after another.

"Pull up footage from all relevant areas, focusing on the three hours before the meeting—especially around the ventilation control room and nearby spots."

A medic handed him a strong suppressant. Wen Yanxu took it and jammed it into the gland on his neck without a second thought.

The cold liquid hit his veins, giving him a brief flash of clarity.

At that moment, Zhuang Yi stumbled back in, his face white.

"Mr. Wen—he's not in the lounge."

Wen Yanxu's eyes went razor-sharp.

"And Jin Wang?"

"He's... gone too."

Wen Yanxu's breath hitched for a split second.

But he just shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, all the churning emotions were locked away.

"Keep handling the aftermath." His voice was flat, almost cold.

"Tell Dr. Li Weimin, head of Zone One's lab, to take over and keep tracing the inducer's source to limit the damage."

As the orders went out—

BOOM!

A massive explosion boomed in the distance. Then the building shuddered.

Someone shrieked.

"What the hell's going on?"

"Is it an earthquake?"

"A tsunami?"

The sudden chaos caught everyone off guard.

People scrambled for an explanation.

Wen Yanxu's light device buzzed. It was an urgent call from the security chief.

"Mr. Wen!"

Over the chaos on the other end, the security chief was practically yelling: "The port's under attack—unidentified ships are shelling us. Heavy firepower. We need orders!"

==========Author's Note:==========

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