“You, hello! My name is Fenri Vino!”
Seeing someone enter, the young Omega immediately stood up and said nervously.
“These past two days, I am sorry to disturb you.”
With that, he gave a small, polite bow.
Such a timid and cautious reaction caused Bai Jinqiu to raise an eyebrow as he looked the youth up and down.
He looked young, even younger than Rong Zhiting, perhaps not yet an adult. Standing around 1.6 meters tall, he was below the average height for male Omega individuals, with a slender build that made him look thin and tiny before Bai Jinqiu. His palm-sized face was clean and pretty, possessing an appearance that easily stirred an Alpha’s protective instincts. His fair, slender hands were tucked against his chest, and he kept his head slightly lowered throughout, not daring to look Bai Jinqiu directly in the eye.
Like a frightened little rabbit, Bai Jinqiu thought to himself.
An Omega like this would have been common during the White Tower era before the egalitarian movement, but in the present day, such a demeanor was exceedingly rare.
It was the kind of state only seen in vulnerable individuals living under long-term high-pressure environments who lacked the ability to protect themselves.
Bai Jinqiu recalled what Rong Zhiting had once told him about the Fringe Star having many scumbags where Omegas were easily bullied, causing him to furrow his brows slightly.
Even for an Omega on the Fringe Star, facing someone who was also an Omega, this kind of reaction was still far too exaggerated.
Let us test the waters. If this kid truly had some trouble, he could lend a hand. If not, he would just assume he was overthinking things.
“Hello, my name is Bai Jinqiu.” Softening his tone, he walked over to the youth and smiled. “Do I look that frightening?”
Perhaps the sheer intimidation of an S-rank Omega’s smile was simply too striking, as the youth lifted his eyes for a fraction of a second, his pretty face instantly turning bright red in panic as he hurriedly took a step back and shifted his gaze away.
“No, sir.”
“Do I look that old?” Bai Jinqiu joked.
The youth was startled and stammered incoherently, “No! I was just… I am sorry! Then, may I call you Brother Jinqiu?”
Bai Jinqiu paused, figuring that this form of address would likely cause a certain someone to overturn a vinegar jar. Yet if he refused, it might leave the kid before him completely flustered. He needed to lower the youngster’s guard right now, so he nodded.
The little Omega seemed to relax a bit, whispering to him:
“Brother Jinqiu, which bed would you like? Any of them is fine with me, you choose first.”
If he did not make a choice right now, the little Omega might worry once more whether he had done something wrong. Thus, Bai Jinqiu casually pointed to a bed.
“Then I will sleep on this side.”
With that, he glanced around the twin room and noticed it even came equipped with an independent bathroom. Figuring the kid deserved some private space to adjust to his presence, he told the youth:
“If you do not need the washroom right away, I will go in and take a shower first.”
This was not entirely an excuse. His wounds had not fully closed earlier, denying him any chance of a full-body wash, and the five days spent in the urban ruins offered zero conditions for personal hygiene, leaving him feeling rather uncomfortable by this point. He genuinely wanted a wash.
“Okay! Please go ahead!” The youth nodded repeatedly.
After Bai Jinqiu stepped into the bathroom, he clearly heard the little Omega let out a sigh of relief, which brought a smile to his lips. He lifted the hem of his shirt to discard the clothes he had worn for days and turned on the showerhead.
The scars scattered across his long, lean physique had already faded, leaving only two obvious marks on his chest and abdomen that were still in the process of healing.
Externally, those two injuries appeared fine, but only he knew that internal damage caused by special weapons and toxins was not so easily mended.
Once he returned, he would likely need to undergo another surgical procedure.
At the very least, taking a shower posed no problem.
Meanwhile, Rong Zhiting arrived at the platform on the third level of the starship, where a large number of examinees had already gathered.
He walked around, intending to find a quiet corner with fewer people, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Krimy waving at him not far away, with Duan Zhe standing right beside him.
That guy probably figured anyone he could exchange words with counted as a friend, and had thus categorized both him and Duan Zhe into his circle of friends.
Rong Zhiting sighed inwardly.
He had never known how to handle people who grew familiar so quickly, but since he had seen them, he could not simply ignore them, leaving him no choice but to walk over and join them.
Krimy and Duan Zhe were chatting excitedly about the novel sights they spotted aboard this starship, while Rong Zhiting offered occasional responses like “Mhm, I see” and “Indeed impressive,” without saying much else.
To be honest, nothing on this starship held any novelty for him, and the crucial areas of the vessel would not be open to unaccepted examinees like them anyway.
He felt somewhat surprised that Duan Zhe, a C-rank Alpha, could chat so openly with two Betas.
The population of Alphas and Omegas was inherently scarce, accounting for perhaps only thirty percent of the total Federation population, with an AO ratio roughly around two to one.
As for Fringe Star EQ952B3, likely due to its excessively harsh environment, the proportion of AO inhabitants made up less than one percent of the total population, and their differentiation ranks were generally quite low, with a wildly skewed AO ratio to boot.
Alphas on the Fringe Star were perpetually arrogant, usually socializing exclusively with other Alphas. A C-rank Alpha was practically considered high-ranking among Fringe Star Alphas, meaning such a person would normally be treated like the moon surrounded by stars and would never mingle with ordinary Betas like them. Duan Zhe was quite the exception.
Rong Zhiting merely felt puzzled inwardly without any intention of inquiring, seeing as they had only just met. Yet Krimy and Duan Zhe’s conversation drifted right onto this topic anyway.
“All three of my roommates in my room are Alphas, and the whole place reeks of Alpha pheromones. One of them even smells like smoked fish, it is suffocating! I seriously want to switch dorms,” Duan Zhe complained with a bitter face.
“What, you do not want to room with Alphas and want to room with us Betas instead? You really are a freak!” Krimy teased him.
Duan Zhe rolled his eyes. “Do not blame me, alright? I only differentiated into an Alpha four months ago, and I always thought I was a Beta before that. That bunch of Alphas used to look down their noses at me all day long, but now that they see I have finished differentiating and have a high rank, they want to come and play buddy-buddy with me. Who cares about them!”
The secondary gender differentiation period typically occurred between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, with fifteen and sixteen being the most common, making the likelihood of differentiation past eighteen very low.
Duan Zhe was even older than Rong Zhiting, sitting at twenty years old, and his differentiation four months ago had shocked everyone.
Duan Zhe’s family was overjoyed at the time, even altering his military academy application choice during registration from his original plan of mecha repair to mecha combat.
The theoretical assessment content for these two majors was quite similar, but the physical fitness requirements differed by a full two minor grades.
Mecha repair was a non-combat major with a minimum physical fitness requirement of E+, whereas mecha combat was a combat major whose minimum standard directly skyrocketed to D.
Consequently, over the past four months since his differentiation, Duan Zhe had been forced to undergo physical training day and night, wearing himself out completely. Fortunately, his physical fitness had improved significantly in a short time following differentiation, and through intensive training to boost it further, he finally managed to meet the admission standards for the combat major right before the assessments.
Rong Zhiting kept a blank expression while listening to this speech.
His own differentiation had also come late; in his past life, he differentiated into an Alpha one month after entering the Seventy-third Military Academy, around the same age as Duan Zhe. However, because his bloodline rank was only F, differentiation brought almost zero enhancement to his physical fitness.
Heh, I am not envious at all.
Duan Zhe kept running his mouth: “Who actually wants to differentiate into an Alpha! Training in the mecha combat department in the future is going to work people to death, and the hazard coefficient in the military is sky-high! I would rather be back in the mecha repair department.” Despite saying this, his face bore no reluctant expression whatsoever, looking thoroughly punchable.
Krimy could not help talking back: “Saying ‘who actually wants to differentiate into an Alpha’ when you deliberately dropped the fact that you are a C-rank Alpha when introducing yourself to us earlier, were you not just trying to show off?”
Duan Zhe’s face flushed as he chuckled awkwardly, “Well, it is not every day I get something worth showing off, am I not allowed to flex a little!”
While the two were bantering, the instructor arrived, causing all the examinees to quickly quiet down and listen as the instructor introduced how to use the training facilities aboard the vessel.
The instructor led them on a large tour around the examinee area, introducing every single facility and selecting a few examinees to step forward and demonstrate after each introduction. This segment clearly proved popular, drawing plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Duan Zhe was selected to step up and demonstrate once in a simulated mecha piloting capsule; even though it lasted only three minutes, he beamed with excitement upon returning.
Krimy also vied for a turn several times, though regrettably without being chosen. Duan Zhe made a cheap remark suggesting the instructor might not have seen him because he was too short, earning a fierce kick from Krimy.
That kick felt like nothing to an Alpha, and Duan Zhe grinned away just as punchably as ever.
As for Rong Zhiting, he stood quietly at the back row maintaining silence. He was already far too familiar with these training facilities. Under normal circumstances, his hands might have itched to try them out, but right now, he only wanted this session to end quickly so he could go find his Brother Bai.
Unfortunately, the others felt differently, and he could not just abandon the group.
Thus, by the time all the onboard training facilities were introduced and demonstrated, a full hour had passed.
Rong Zhiting bade farewell to the other two, eager to turn and leave, only to be stopped by Krimy.
“Rong Zhiting, are you not coming with us to try out the training facilities?” Krimy asked in surprise. “How come you look completely uninterested in all these high-end setups?”
Duan Zhe nodded along beside him.
Rong Zhiting waved a hand. “No, you guys go ahead. I have something to do right now and need to head over to the family quarters first. I will catch up with you later.” With that, he hurried off in haste.
Krimy and Duan Zhe exchanged blank stares.
“Why is he in such a rush to get to the family quarters? Does he really worry about his dad that much?” Duan Zhe scratched his head in confusion.
Krimy’s mouth twitched. “You actually believed that pretty Omega was his dad? That is his brother!”
He had been standing close enough earlier to catch the conversation between Rong Zhiting and his brother, which was why he nearly burst out laughing when he heard Rong Zhiting bluffing Duan Zhe.
Duan Zhe’s eyes widened. “Ah?! Then what he said before…”
Krimy rolled his eyes. “Use your brain. If you had an Omega brother that pretty, would you not worry?”
“Besides, you came on strong earlier showing interest in his brother, and the guy does not even know you. Why on earth would he introduce his brother to you?”
Duan Zhe experienced a sudden epiphany, his fighting spirit instantly reignited.
As long as it was not Rong Zhiting’s dad, everything was workable!
He would just be buddy-buddy with Rong Zhiting first, get him in a good mood, and then would he ever have to worry about Rong Zhiting failing to set him up with his brother?
If there was one thing he excelled at, it was spoiling his spouse! Whatever his spouse said, he would never argue back! Rong Zhiting could rest completely assured entrusting his brother to him!
Not far away, Rong Zhiting sneezed heavily, feeling an inexplicable chill run down his spine.