Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Wen Jueqian stayed still in his embrace, his cheek resting against Wen Yanxu's clothes, catching the faint scent of Datura pheromones.

After a few seconds, he spoke softly: "I'm fine now."

But Wen Yanxu didn't let go right away.

"You were out for fifteen hours." Wen Yanxu's voice came from above him. "The doctor said you were completely physically exhausted, and your emotions were all over the place, so you need rest."

From the early morning until now—yeah, it had been a long time.

Without a word, he lifted his free hand and gave Wen Yanxu's back a gentle pat.

That seemed to ease the Alpha a bit.

Wen Yanxu's shoulders relaxed a little, and he finally let go, but kept his hand on Wen Jueqian's waist, with no sign of letting go.

"What about you? How are you feeling?"

At that, Wen Yanxu sat down on the edge of the bed, his voice back to its usual calm. "The inducer they gave me has a complicated formula, and it messed up my pheromone system. I'll need regular inhibitor shots for a while, and once it's fully out of my system, I'll be back to normal."

Wen Jueqian looked up. "Will it affect your body?"

Alphas were different from Betas—their glands released pheromones, which was both a natural gift and a built-in limitation.

For Alphas, pheromones were also their power source. In a crisis or in combat, pheromones would push them into an incredible "battle state."

During the war years between the Federation and the Empire, the best soldiers in the military were almost all Alphas, thanks to this nearly unstoppable edge in battle.

At the same time, pheromones sharpened Alphas' senses to an extreme degree, letting their insight, focus, and judgment hit their peak—this was the biological basis for why Alphas became leaders and decision-makers.

This biological edge cemented Alphas' dominance in society. The top ranks of the Federation were overwhelmingly Alpha, and the Empire was ruled entirely by Alphas.

But all of that depended on the pheromone system working properly.

Once it went haywire, those natural advantages could become uncontrollable dangers.

Wen Yanxu reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Wen Jueqian's ear.

"It's fine," he reassured him. "Alphas have fast metabolisms; it'll be out of my system soon."

Wen Jueqian let himself relax for the moment.

Then he thought of something else.

"What about Natural Law?" His hand tightened on the bedsheet without him realizing, knuckles going white.

In the story, Natural Law didn't show up much, but every time they did, it came with horrifying acts of madness—they were capable of anything.

A huge chunk of the danger Wen Yanxu faced came from this organization.

This time, they hadn't meant to kill Wen Yanxu, so they only used an inducer. But what about next time?

They'd already planted an undercover agent as Wen Yanxu's assistant—there were way too many chances for them to strike.

Wen Jueqian looked up. "Will there be more people from that organization around you?"

Wen Yanxu's eyes darkened for a second.

He took Wen Jueqian's hand and laced their fingers together.

"Aegis will start an internal review." His voice carried the authority of someone used to being in charge. "Same goes for the Wen family—anyone who can get close to us, I'll dig into every last one."

His eyes were sharp, like a predator getting ready to hunt.

"As for the moles they planted, I'll pull them out one by one."

Wen Yanxu never made empty promises—if he said he'd do something, he did it.

Wen Yanxu went on, his voice colder. "I'll make Natural Law pay for touching you."

He tightened his hold on Wen Jueqian's hand, gripping it firmly but careful not to hurt him.

"This isn't over."

Wen Jueqian looked at him, a swirl of complicated emotions rising in his chest.

Wen Yanxu's usual fierce protectiveness treated him like something precious and fragile, tucked safely into a completely secure space.

Wen Jueqian leaned into him again—he could never help wanting to depend on this man.

After a moment, he got back to business.

"When I was taken, they said some things to me."

Wen Yanxu's brow furrowed, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

"What did they say?"

Wen Jueqian thought back, repeating what they'd said as objectively as he could.

Wen Yanxu's expression stayed neutral, but Wen Jueqian could tell he was listening closely.

Wen Jueqian frowned, thinking out loud: "He also brought up the advantages of Alphas and Omegas—could this be an experiment to turn Betas into Alphas or Omegas?"

"But isn't secondary gender decided by genes?"

In the ABO world, the three secondary genders—Alpha, Beta, and Omega—are actually set by genes from the moment of conception.

But back when technology was limited, you could only find out your secondary gender after you went through differentiation.

So society generally believed that differentiation decided your gender.

It wasn't until scientists found the key DNA segment that decides secondary gender that this idea was completely overturned.

Now, with advanced gene sequencing, a baby's genes can be tested to predict which way they'll differentiate.

And based on those predictions, early training and life planning tailored to each gender have become the new normal.

Wen Yanxu didn't answer.

"What was that research from twenty years ago they mentioned?" Wen Jueqian pushed, his tone more urgent than he realized. "Besides the inhibitor, what else were they working on at Jueying Island?"

The second the words left his mouth, he realized he'd overstepped.

Unreleased cutting-edge research was the group's commercial secret. He was just Wen Yanxu's fiancé—some things, he didn't have the right to know.

His lashes fluttered, and he dropped his gaze, wishing he could take the question back.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me."

Wen Yanxu watched Wen Jueqian's expression suddenly close off, reached out to ruffle his hair, the gesture meant to soothe him.

Wen Yanxu said, "You're also a member of the Wen family. You own shares in Aegis, so you have the right to know Aegis's core direction."

Wen Yanxu seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"Besides the inhibitor project, the Third Research Center currently has a classified project underway." His tone turned more serious. "It's called Life Weaving—a reproductive enhancement system that deeply integrates Aegis's ABO genetic lineage editing with third-generation artificial womb technology."

"Life Weaving?" Wen Jueqian murmured the words.

"In simple terms, it uses gene editing technology to precisely control ABO secondary sex characteristics, glandular development, pheromone strength, and more at the embryonic stage."

Wen Yanxu explained, "When paired with artificial womb technology, it allows parents to choose their child's gender disposition and even enhance talents to a certain degree."

Wen Jueqian listened, countless possibilities flooding his mind.

If this technology were to mature, it would mean parents could choose whether to have an Alpha or an Omega, and could deliberately have children with enhanced talents.

If parents could choose, would betas still exist?

Wen Jueqian felt bewildered—for the future of the beta population.

This raised enormous ethical concerns. Where should the line be drawn with gene editing?

"But this project faces incredibly complex theoretical and technical hurdles, and the chances of success are slim. Aegis cares more about the technological spin-offs generated during the research process." A slight frown creased Wen Yanxu's brow. "Besides, Life Weaving was only started four years ago."

But the experiment Jin Wang and the masked man had mentioned took place twenty years ago.

Wen Yanxu added, "All Aegis research goes through the Federal Ethics Committee for review. Volunteers are recruited openly, and the process strictly follows federal regulations."

His voice was firm. "The group will never engage in illegal human experimentation. That's the bottom line."

Wen Jueqian looked at him and was silent for a few seconds.

He ventured, "Maybe it was some kind of secret experiment. A company as big as Aegis—someone's bound to cross the line."

Wen Yanxu didn't argue right away.

"So you're saying those people's accusations might be true?"

"I don't know." Wen Jueqian shook his head. "But the way they talked—they didn't seem to be lying. They truly believed they were in the right."

Wen Yanxu went quiet.

"Twenty years ago." Wen Yanxu suddenly spoke, as if talking to himself. "That was right after Absolute Shadow Island was first built. Back then, my father had just taken over from my grandfather, and there was internal chaos because of the power transition."

"I'll look into it." His voice carried a reassuring certainty.

"No matter what the truth turns out to be."

Wen Jueqian knew what he meant.

Twenty years ago, if some illegal experiment truly existed, it must have been buried under layers of secrecy. Being able to cover that up meant the people involved were high up, and the stakes were huge.

"You're still going to look into it?" Wen Jueqian asked.

He said, "If it really exists, it should be exposed. No matter who's involved."

He squeezed Wen Jueqian's hand, his fingertips tracing his knuckles.

"But you don't need to worry about any of this right now." Wen Yanxu's voice softened. "I'll handle the investigation. All you need to do is get some rest."

He hadn't noticed while he was focused earlier, but now that it was mentioned, the exhaustion crept back in. Wen Jueqian didn't insist further. He nodded and docilely lay back down.

Wen Yanxu lay on his side next to him, pulling him fully into his arms.

The familiar warmth enveloped him. Wen Jueqian closed his eyes, listening to the steady beat of Wen Yanxu's heartbeat.

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

Early this morning, before I was even fully awake, I was already half-asleep, mulling over the plot.