Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Wen Jueqian sat on the sofa in the lounge, reopening the livestream on his optical brain.

He hadn't gone into the meeting room.

For a crisis response of this magnitude, he had no role to play—not to mention his identity was inherently sensitive.

So he simply sat here quietly, watching on the screen, observing a battle he had no part in.

The press conference in the main hall was still underway, and most of the trending topics on social media were related to "Natural Law."

Wen Jueqian tried to help Wen Yanxu however he could.

"99," he said in a low voice.

99: I'm here.

"Can you stop the video from spreading any more?"

99: Already handling it. The Federal Security Bureau and Aegis are coordinating efforts. The forced-playback links from the virus have been cut off, and any subsequent uploads of the video will be intercepted by the platforms.

99: In about half an hour, this video will completely disappear from public view.

Wen Jueqian breathed a small sigh of relief, but his brow remained furrowed.

"Can you trace the original source? Where was the video filmed?"

99: Let me try.

99: Found it. But they've already relocated.

Wen Jueqian felt deflated.

Inside the emergency meeting room at the convention center, the atmosphere was oppressive.

The conference table was lined with Aegis executives.

On the projection screen, the final frame of the Natural Law threat video was frozen—the masked figure appearing to coldly stare at everyone in the room.

"This is a blatant provocation." Zhou Linna, the PR director, spoke first. She was an Alpha woman in her forties, with short, neat hair and a fast, decisive cadence. "We must respond head-on, condemning extremist organizations threatening public safety in the strongest possible terms."

Meng Hui, head of the legal department, shook his head and pushed up his glasses. "A strong statement will provoke more aggressive retaliation. I suggest putting pressure on the security agencies through parliament and applying for a targeted cleanup operation—that's more stable and more effective."

"By the time parliament finishes its procedures, it'll be too late." Chen Yunian from the Strategic Investment department sneered. "The market won't wait that long."

Just as he finished speaking, Sun Jing, the board secretary, felt his optical brain buzz with an incoming message. He looked down, and his expression grew darker.

His voice was strained as he reported, "Just got the real-time stock data. Before the press conference began, Aegis's stock had been trending up all week, with intraday gains reaching 8.9% at one point, nearing the daily limit. After Natural Law's video went viral, as of three minutes ago, gains have narrowed to 2.1%, with abnormally high trading volume."

Things didn't look good for the market.

A wave of anxiety swept through the room, but no one spoke.

Wen Yanxu sat at the head of the table, rapping his knuckles twice on the surface.

The sound was quiet, but it caught everyone's attention.

"The most urgent issue right now isn't pointing fingers, and it's not formulating an overall counter-strategy."

"It's how to calm investor nerves and protect public trust in Aegis and the 7th-Gen Inhibitor."

Two sentences were enough to ease some of the tension in the room.

Wen Yanxu surveyed the room with a calm but piercing gaze. "What you've all suggested doesn't solve the most immediate problem—how to respond appropriately right now."

No one said anything.

The PR team assembled here was made up of top-tier talent.

Yet none of the emergency protocols they knew had a plan for "extremist organization hijacking user terminals during a product launch livestream to broadcast a terrorist manifesto."

Aegis's PR was caught in a dilemma: acknowledging the threat would amplify the panic caused by Natural Law; downplaying it would make Aegis look weak and vulnerable.

It was a problem with no easy answer.

A knock on the door broke the silence.

A staff member pushed the door open, walked quickly to Wen Yanxu, and murmured something in his ear.

Wen Yanxu's brows first furrowed, then raised slightly.

The various considerations racing through his head took less than half a minute.

Wen Yanxu spoke: "Set up an empty meeting room for him. Get the feed connected first."

He turned to the executives in the room, whose faces showed a range of reactions. His tone remained composed, but everyone noticed a subtle change.

"Our partner says he's got a solution."

Wen Yanxu paused briefly. "One that could turn things around."

"Then let's see." Chen Yunian leaned back into his chair, his voice giving away nothing. "Let's see if this partner can truly win back the market's confidence."

Qiao Yuexun was led by a staff member to the broadcast studio.

Staff were setting up the holographic equipment.

Qiao Yuexun stood at the center of the stage, closing his eyes to focus.

Calm or pleasant Omega pheromones could soothe Alpha agitation and aggression, and they also had a calming effect on Betas, reducing group tension and helping regulate social emotions.

Many Omegas were extremely sensitive to pheromones and others' emotions, with exceptional empathy and interpretive ability—it was their gift.

A perfect Omega speech wasn't just about conveying ideas; it created a pheromone field in the room, using pheromones to spark intellectual and emotional connection with the audience.

The staff member walked up to Qiao Yuexun: "Mr. Qiao, the equipment is ready. When would you like to begin?"

Qiao Yuexun opened his eyes. "In three minutes."

The staff member stepped back.

Qiao Yuexun whispered, barely audible: "Confirm the exchange."

————

Wen Jueqian's optical brain was still showing the livestream of the 7th-Gen Inhibitor.

The audience's attention had long been hijacked by Natural Law, with live comments about it far outnumbering those about the inhibitor.

The host received a last-minute notice and began introducing the additional segment: "Dear viewers, we now have a trial participant of the 7th-Gen Inhibitor who would like to share their real experience. Please welcome them!"

"I am Qiao Yuexun."

Wen Jueqian's hand holding the cup froze mid-air, his gaze locked onto the holoscreen.

Qiao Yuexun stood alone at the center of the frame.

The lights fell upon him, illuminating him completely. Those amber eyes stared directly at the viewers before the screen.

"I am both an Omega and an actor."

"From the very first day of my presentation, I experienced firsthand how heat cycles disrupted my life, my studies, and my career."

Wen Jueqian left the rest area, wanting to return to the live broadcast site to witness this performance in person.

But just as he reached the door, he was stopped by a bodyguard.

"Mr. Wen, things are chaotic outside right now. For your safety, we'd advise you to stay in the rest area."

Wen Jueqian said nothing more, simply returning to the rest area to continue watching.

Qiao Yuexun spoke at a measured pace, each word clear and resolute, echoing through the room: "This is not a complaint—it is a reality that many Omegas face every day."

At that moment, he felt as if he were not sitting in the rest area, but in the audience, becoming one of the crowd caught in the speaker's gaze.

"So when Natural Law called the 7th-Gen Inhibitor a shackle, what I felt wasn't fear—it was anger."

"For me, it's not a shackle—on the contrary, it's the key to freedom."

Qiao Yuexun continued, his voice growing stronger, rising like waves: "It lets me plan my career and my life with peace of mind."

He stepped forward, his shadow stretching long behind him beneath the lights.

"We embrace the fruits of technological progress—not by suppressing our nature. We're simply shedding those unnecessary, innate chains, so we can more fully realize our self-worth as human beings."

His gaze met the camera directly, as if piercing through the screen to meet every viewer's eyes.

"Thank you, Aegis. What you've given Alphas and Omegas isn't just medication—it's the right to choose."

"We refuse to go back to that era of restriction. Taking control of our own lives is technological progress—and human progress."

He took another step forward, his voice carrying something that set the air on fire.

"I proudly support the 7th-Gen Inhibitor. Because what it represents isn't a desecration of nature—it's the freedom to choose!"

On the live stream, after a moment of silence, the comments exploded.

A tidal wave of support and acclaim.

With a single speech, Qiao Yuexun turned Natural Law's threat, doubt, and panic into a victory for his values.

After the broadcast ended, the meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

Sun Jing murmured: "Impressive."

PR Director Zhou Lina said nothing, but her grip on the pen loosened.

Wen Yanxu's gaze left the projection and settled on the people in the room.

"If there are no objections," he said, his voice composed, "the PR department will begin releasing Aegis's first official response to the incident."

No one objected.

"At the same time, initiate the following: First, the legal team will file a formal report with the public security authorities, signaling Aegis's intent to hold people accountable. Second, the Aegis Charity Foundation will launch a dedicated public welfare program, allocating a fixed percentage of the 7th-Gen Inhibitor's first-year revenue to set up a special assistance fund for victims of extremist attacks. Third, schedule another press conference."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over every person in the room, leaving no room for anyone to waver, his tone firm and decisive.

"The theme is: Aegis will not compromise out of fear. Any attempt to obstruct technological progress through violence, intimidation, or cyberattacks will face the most resolute pushback from the public, the law, and society."

Someone in the room gave a small nod.

"Meeting adjourned." Wen Yanxu rose and said finally, "Each department proceeds according to its assigned tasks. I want the copy for the speech video ready to publish immediately."

---

Wen Jueqian stayed seated until the entire speech was over.

The screen went dark, reflecting his own face—his brow unnaturally smooth from holding back, his gaze unfocused, his mouth set in a straight line.

His face was nearly blank.

Toward the plot, toward Qiao Yuexun, toward fate—even toward himself.

All of it left him confused and... powerless.

Qiao Yuexun's speech—Wen Jueqian had already "heard" it.

In the "future" that 99 had planted in his mind.

In the meeting where Wen Yanxu brought Wen Jueqian along to thank Qiao Yuexun, the two naturally talked about the significance of the 7th-Gen Inhibitor, then moved on to R&D goals and long-term philosophy, with Qiao Yuexun explaining his understanding of Aegis's vision to Wen Yanxu.

That was the turning point where their relationship became personal—the first time Wen Yanxu realized that this Omega's connection to Aegis's philosophy was genuine and deep.

It was also the starting point for Wen Yanxu later pushing through opposition to make Qiao Yuexun the brand ambassador.

But that pivotal moment had already vanished, because Wen Jueqian had altered the storyline.

Qiao Yuexun hadn't even attended today's launch event as the ambassador.

A butterfly flapped its wings, and he rewrote the course of the future.

Yet the storm it unleashed was out of his control.

Natural Law's terrorist manifesto took everyone by surprise.

Wen Jueqian even suspected he had brought this crisis down on Aegis and Wen Yanxu.

Because of his interference, an unpredictable chain reaction had been set off.

And no matter how much Wen Jueqian wanted to help, he was powerless to resolve this crisis. It was like a threshold, marking who was an outsider who couldn't cross it.

Wen Jueqian could only stay a protected bystander, waiting in the rest area for Wen Yanxu to decide.

And this crisis became Qiao Yuexun's opportunity—he was the insider who could step across that threshold.

And so Qiao Yuexun was given a bigger stage to perform on.

His ideals and values shifted from private conversation to public speech—from words meant only for Wen Yanxu to words meant for the whole world, as he addressed the crisis of the 7th-Gen Inhibitor launch.

A win-win for both Aegis and Qiao Yuexun.

Rationally, Wen Jueqian knew this was an opportunity Qiao Yuexun had earned for himself, and he had indeed helped Aegis pull off a brilliant crisis PR response.

Even if someone else had stood on that stage with the same speech, they might not have done any better.

Aegis's crisis was mostly defused.

But emotionally, Wen Jueqian couldn't control the conflict inside him.

He would rather Aegis be dragged entirely into a controversy by the laws of nature than have Qiao Yuexun fix Aegis's problems and help Wen Yanxu.

He knew it was a shameful thought, but he couldn't stop it.

The realization made Wen Jueqian's stomach lurch, a cramping pain shooting through him.

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, trying to choke the pain down.

Wen Jueqian didn't know how things had gotten to this point.

Was it that Qiao Yuexun was just that good, seizing the right opportunity at the right moment?

Or was he just too selfish, thinking only of changing his own fate and ignoring what would happen next, so that this bitter outcome was something he'd brought on himself?

Qiao Yuexun was still the one who could perfectly resonate with Aegis's and Wen Yanxu's values.

Wen Jueqian remained, as the "future" had described, a beautiful vase sitting nearby while Wen Yanxu and Qiao Yuexun talked.

Ornamental, fragile, and utterly useless.

He didn't want to be a vase.

So he looked for chances to change his fate.

Though he threw all his strength into damming a river, it briefly changed course before returning to its original channel, surging toward its destined direction.

And all he got for his trouble was being soaked to the bone, futile and spent.

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

This chapter took too long to revise, so it's posted late.