“I don’t want something like this happening in my territory…”
After the wind subsided, Liang Qu and Liang Zhao lowered their hands, only to see that the enormous, vicious mountain spider in the middle of the highway was suspended in midair by an invisible force. Its eight legs thrashed like fish stranded on shore, its bloodied mouthparts opening and closing as green saliva dripped onto the ground, emitting faint, trembling sounds of fear.
A man stood in the air directly in front of it. His pheromones, heavy with dragon ambergris, spread across the entire highway. All the mountain spiders were forced to the ground, unable to resist, their eight legs twitching like trembling noodles.
“Colonel!” Liang Qu looked at him as if a ranked-player in a game had just seen his top-tier jungler.
He must have rushed out in a hurry after receiving the report. Ren Junzhu wasn’t even wearing a coat. A newly released silk black shirt from British GESAMY clung tightly to his strong, well-defined physique. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing lean, muscular forearms. He was extremely tall, black trousers wrapping his long straight legs. Standing there expressionless in midair, his oppressive presence was overwhelming.
With one hand, Ren Junzhu held Shen Yue around the waist and carried him over his shoulder. Sticky blood soaked his clothes, the metallic smell heavy in the air. He glanced at Shen Yue, already unconscious on his shoulder. His long eyelashes trembled, and blood continued to spill from the corner of his mouth around the bite gag.
Ren Junzhu turned his head back. His deep, dark eyes narrowed slightly. If his pheromones earlier had only been oppressive, now they carried pure, elegant, and cold killing intent. The entire area was instantly suffocated under its pressure.
“Co… co-co-co-colonel—” Chen Guoyuan collapsed to his knees. His gun clattered to the ground. His face was pale and flushed red at the same time, on the verge of suffocation.
Ren Junzhu slowly raised his hand. The movement was deliberate, slowed to an almost unbearable degree, yet carried a chilling brutality. At the tip of his long fingers, a flame suddenly ignited.
The fire danced in the wind, illuminating his handsome yet emotionless face with striking clarity.
That small flame was weaker than a spark, yet in an instant it seemed to steal the color from the sun itself.
Liang Qu drew in a sharp breath. Before he could even swear, Liang Zhao suddenly burst into spontaneous flames, burning away all the spider silk binding him. He grabbed Liang Qu and the two of them leapt off the cliff together.
The next second, a brilliant red light erupted. A crimson dragon formed of blazing fire roared into existence, sweeping across the entire highway in an instant.
……
NSMS Headquarters, Southern Base, Awakened Species Research Medical Center
“Make way! Make way!!”
“Hurry! Stop the bleeding! Prepare antivenom and intravenous immunoglobulin!”
The sudden highway attack by an awakened species left the already overworked medical center even more overwhelmed. Nurses and doctors ran frantically, their footsteps a blur. In the hospital, omegas were treated like alphas, alphas like beasts of burden, now everyone was running around like they had lost their minds, chaos erupting everywhere.
Outside the operating room stood several officers in black uniforms. Hands clasped behind their backs, they stood motionless, staring straight ahead like wooden statues. The red “IN SURGERY” light above the operating room had already been on for two hours.
A neatly dressed omega with a gentle mint scent walked over holding a thick stack of documents. “Colonel Ren.”
Ren Junzhu crossed his arms and looked up at him.
“The preliminary investigation report is out. Search officers found traces of pheromones at the bottom of the cliff, but the concentration is too weak for the detection equipment to analyze precise values. Further laboratory testing is still required. A total of 13 people died in this incident, causing severe panic in society. The higher-ups are attaching great importance to it. During this period, you are required to deploy personnel to patrol the area around G7 Highway 24 hours a day. If an awakened species is found approaching civilians, villages, or traffic, there is no need to report, kill it immediately.”
“Understood,” Ren Junzhu replied flatly.
He was still wearing the same clothes. The bloodstains on them were not very visible, but the smell of blood was still there, faint, not strong, yet carrying a subtle floral undertone with a cold, ghostly, almost seductive scent.
“Brother Lin.” Liang Qu and Liang Zhao climbed up to the floor. Seeing the mint-scented omega, they immediately realized that headquarters was taking the mountain spider highway incident very seriously.
Lin You asked them, “Are you two alright?”
The incident had happened too suddenly. No one had expected the mountain spiders to suddenly hunt in a rare coordinated swarm and attack humans. Liang Qu and Liang Zhao were both elite members of the Flying Dragon Special Forces. If they had been seriously injured or killed in this accident, it would have been a major blow to the entire special military force. In the current international situation, every S-rank or above awakener was a strategic deterrent-rank asset. Losing even one was a massive loss. Even the political advisor Liu had been so stressed about it that he almost broke out in mouth ulcers.
“We’re fine, completely fine. Not even a scratch,” Liang Qu said loudly, hands on his hips. “It was just Xiao Zhao insisting on dragging me in for a check-up. I mean, I’m strong and healthy, what a waste of medical resources.”
Liang Zhao silently looked at the bandage on his face—”not even a scratch”?
Lin You said, “Good that you’re fine. The base will reimburse it anyway, so don’t worry. Just do all the necessary checks. Mountain spiders are poisonous, better to be careful.”
“Reimbursement? That’s great! Our country and Party are truly caring toward grassroots workers. I’m willing to work myself to death for the organization!”
The black-uniformed officers nearby had their expressions twisting violently. Grassroots workers? Then what are we?!
Liang Qu and Liang Zhao returned to Ren Junzhu and saluted him. He nodded and asked them to give a detailed account of everything that had happened.
Liang Zhao described the situation in detail, with Liang Qu occasionally exaggerating. Together, they roughly reconstructed the entire event. When they mentioned that the culprit suddenly ran toward the mountain spider, Lin You suddenly said, “There was a child in that vehicle.”
“A girl. It seemed that Shen… the suspect noticed her, which is why he ran over.”
Liang Qu’s voice went hoarse. “That child…”
“She’s been rescued. She’s currently receiving treatment at the medical center. You don’t need to worry.”
Only then did Liang Qu let out a breath of relief. He scratched his hair. The A-rank mountain spiders weren’t a problem for him, rank suppression among awakened beings and awakened species was extremely strict. But the entire highway was covered in leaked gasoline. Both he and his younger brother were fire-type; even a single spark from their abilities could have ignited the whole road. That danger might have been even worse than the spiders themselves, so they had been too cautious to use their abilities.
This was also unavoidable. Since the emergence of awakened bloodlines, countless awakened officers who used their abilities to save people ended up causing even greater casualties instead. The higher the pheromone level, the larger the range of the ability, and the harder it is to control with precision. Because of this, NSMS Headquarters established regulations in military discipline requiring special officers to report upward before using S2-rank abilities or above.
He and his younger brother had always been extremely cautious, walking on thin ice. But the “big boss” of the unit, one of the specially monitored officers, simply didn’t care at all. He casually formed a tiny red spark with a wave of his hand, nearly scaring them to death. If he and his brother hadn’t jumped off the cliff quickly enough, they would have been buried in a sea of flames.
Fortunately, their leader still retained some rationality. He only killed all the mountain spiders; those unlucky prison guards were merely frightened unconscious and not killed. Especially that useless troublemaker Chen Guoyuan, how could he be so stupid? Normally, you would give three warnings before using force. But that idiot didn’t even issue a single warning before opening fire. He was clearly mentally ill.
Lin You glanced at Ren Junzhu. His expression hadn’t changed, as if he didn’t care at all. His presence was still filled with that overwhelming dominance that seemed to flow through his bloodline and could never be erased. Yet that dominance was now wrapped in a faint, almost imperceptible floral scent of pheromones, strangely neutralizing part of his aggression. It made him still powerful, but no longer as violently, demonically brutal as before.
That scent was far too seductive. Lin You understood that this was one of the most dangerous “temptation-type” pheromones listed in high-risk pheromone records, comparable to poppy pheromones—Tuberose fragrance. It made people feel as if they were cutting through shimmering water in the dead of night, walking toward moonlight like a pilgrimage.
Lin You steadied himself. Just the lingering effect in blood was already this strong, no wonder higher authorities were so wary of and strictly controlling Shen Yue.
“He’ll be fine,” Lin You said after glancing at the operating room.
“You think I’m worried about him?” Ren Junzhu raised his eyelids.
“…”
He looked expressionless, but he still gave off the sense that he was on the verge of losing control and killing someone. Chen Guoyuan had even been so frightened he wet himself and was now hospitalized in a semi-paralyzed state. How could he possibly not be worried?
“Regardless, he did save someone. Even the worst criminals still have their basic rights. Director Jiang’s medical skills are excellent, he’ll save him.”
At that moment, the operating room door opened. Director Jiang removed his cap and mask; his hair was soaked and his face looked exhausted.
“Director, how is it?” Liang Qu asked. “Did you save him?”
“He’s been saved…” Director Jiang wiped his face and replied.
Everyone visibly relaxed. Lin You looked at Ren Junzhu. He showed no reaction, no visible emotion at all. Ever since that incident seven years ago, his temperament had become unpredictable and extreme, making him impossible to read. But Lin You’s intuition told him that as long as Shen Yue was still alive, Ren Junzhu would not completely lose control.
“However, although he is alive, his condition is not good,” Director Jiang continued. “The gunshot itself is minor. It hit the left chest but did not reach the heart. A 3S-rank Alpha’s physical constitution is indeed strong. The most serious issue is his psychological trauma—
“After a Type III suppressor injection was inserted into his gland, he still forcibly used his ability. Even though it wasn’t fully released in the end, the damage to his gland was still extremely severe. Especially since the patient is water-attributed, while mountain spiders are earth-attributed, using a mental control-type ability against a suppressing element carries a high risk of backlash.
“In addition, the patient has a special constitution and is highly sensitive to both physical and mental pain, which further intensified his suffering. During surgery, we also found that anesthesia had almost no effect on him. During the bullet removal procedure, he woke up from pain multiple times. Even now, although he is unconscious, he will likely suffer greatly afterward.”
Everyone fell silent. Liang Qu let out a soft sigh. He knew the crimes Shen Yue had committed, and he also knew that Shen Yue would have to stand trial for them. But after all, Shen Yue had once been his only “white moonlight.” Serving his sentence on schedule was something he deserved to endure, yet the thought of him suffering such torment even before execution still left Liang Qu feeling a bit heavy-hearted and wistful.
Everyone assumed Shen Yue’s condition made it unfit to move him again. However, Ren Junzhu said expressionlessly, “Transfer him back to Bailu Prison tomorrow.”
That sentence shocked everyone. Director Jiang frowned. “The prison’s medical facilities are nowhere near the level of the center. Even if he’s a prisoner, he should be stabilized before being interrogated.”
Lin You added, “Colonel, if you’re concerned about the commander’s order, this incident happened too suddenly. Once the commander learns how severely injured he is, he may reconsider and withdraw the directive. He—”
“No need,” Ren Junzhu said. “A 3S-rank Alpha isn’t that easy to die. Once the wounds are mostly bandaged, send him back to prison. The southern base will not keep him.”
Lin You tried to persuade him further, but Ren Junzhu had already turned away to leave.
“I don’t want to see him in my territory.”