With only seventeen hours left until the funeral began, Luo Qingcheng quickly figured out where he could harvest a large amount of pheromones.
What he was about to do next was dirty work, so it naturally had to be done in a dirty place.
The Maybach driven by Qiao Buyi had already arrived at the villa district.
Luo Qingcheng was so pampered that he did not even have to lift a finger; Qiao Buyi fed him personally. This pampering was evident not just in Qiao Buyi’s eyes, but in his meticulous words and actions, especially his gentle gaze, which carried the cherished feeling of something lost and regained.
After much thought, Luo Qingcheng decided he could not ask about it proactively, because asking would expose him.
After arranging everything, Qiao Buyi looked at Luo Qingcheng with a gaze that was both ardent and reluctant to part, mentioning that there was a very important business dinner that evening and he had to rush over.
Luo Qingcheng superficially agreed to wait obediently at home for him to return so they could talk properly about their future. The moment Qiao Buyi left, Luo Qingcheng stood barefoot in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watched the Maybach blend into the night, changed his clothes, and went out.
He was very busy too, and time was running out.
The exterior of the upscale club was luxuriously decorated.
Luo Qingcheng had never set foot in such a place before. As he loitered at the entrance, the security guard instead asked him if he was looking for a part-time job.
A handsome face was a high starting point. Luo Qingcheng wore a standard three-piece waiter uniform and pushed a cart of wine ordered by VIPs. His messy bangs were combed back into a slick pompadour. A cool breeze brushed against his face; the air in the corridor was fresh and completely devoid of pheromones.
[System]: “Most of the waiters here are Betas unaffected by pheromones, while the patrons are high-quality Alphas and Omegas who will not be interested in Betas. Collect as many pheromones as you can before the air purifiers sweep the area clean.”
The beverage service cart’s four wheels turned to the rhythm of Luo Qingcheng’s footsteps. As he debated whether to disconnect the air purifier’s power source, he heard low sobs coming from the corner opposite him.
“Please, stop.”
A restless, ragged panting followed: “A poor Beta, what right do you have to refuse an Alpha? I am only playing with you because I am in a good mood.”
Luo Qingcheng abandoned the service cart and walked silently over.
[System Warning]: “Your task is to collect pheromones. Do not meddle in other people’s business.”
Luo Qingcheng: “Did you not say everyone here consists of high-quality Alphas who will not be interested in Betas?”
A dark blue jacket and vest were thrown messily on the floor. A tall, large Alpha had pinned a Beta into the corner, tilting his head to bite the Beta’s shoulder, pressing forward at high speed.
Nine times out of ten, this Alpha was being induced into a rut; otherwise, he never would have abandoned a comfortable private room to run to a corner like this to satisfy his urges.
Luo Qingcheng said playfully from behind, “Sir, your ultra-thin condoms have arrived.”
“Get lost! Can you not see this young master is busy?!” The Alpha panted heavily, impatiently driving him away, completely failing to catch Luo Qingcheng’s sarcasm.
Even without smelling pheromones, Luo Qingcheng could deeply sense the Alpha’s formidable physique, something a Beta’s genes simply could not overcome.
The size difference!
Luo Qingcheng disliked the oppressive aura emitted by people taller than him, especially hooligans, who always seemed to ignite his fighting spirit.
Using a physique and weight that did not match his opponent’s, he suddenly lashed out with a palm strike, slamming the guy face-first to the floor. With a counter-lock on the opponent’s joints and a crisp crack, accompanied by a scream, Luo Qingcheng used his elbow to roughly grind the Alpha’s clean face against the floor.
Completely consumed by desire, the Alpha had not noticed the dangerous pheromones of another Alpha. Suddenly attacked, his attacker moved with swift, skilled precision, utilizing leverage and technique. Veins bulged on the back of the Alpha’s hands and temples as his entire body’s blood boiled.
If any other Alpha or Omega had passed by, they would have known how intense the suppressing pheromones choking this narrow corner were. Yet the Alpha distinctly noticed that the pheromones vanished rapidly, at a speed that even a thirty-eight-liter air purifier could not achieve.
The sudden disappearance of the pheromones would not draw more people, but the Beta behind him was even more baffling, stirring an unprecedented heart-palpitating sense of the unknown.
A crisp sound like colliding jade wind chimes rang in the Alpha’s ear: “Shh, shut up if the young master does not want a second person to see that your zipper is stuck on your spongy body.”
“A Beta? You are courting death, how dare you.”
A swift, ruthless, and precise chop of the hand landed, and the Alpha immediately slumped to the floor, losing consciousness.
Luo Qingcheng stood up, glanced around, shook his sore hands, loosened his collar, and smoothed his hair at the temples with his palm while letting out a long breath.
Crouched in the corner, his colleague was left with only a single white shirt with a wide-open collar from his three-piece uniform, looking like a little white rabbit bullied by a big bad wolf, keeping his head deeply buried as his entire body shook.
He could not understand why Luo Qingcheng, who was also a Beta, could act recklessly and beat an Alpha unconscious on the ground, while his own courage to resist had been crushed down to absolute nothingness by the Alpha.
If he had known that Luo Qingcheng was still carrying a little tadpole in his belly, he probably would have been too shocked to shake anymore, turning stiff as stone.
Luo Qingcheng took off his own jacket and draped it over him, choosing not to help him up, and simply said, “It is fine now. Go back to the dormitory to rest; I will handle things here.”
At this moment, unfamiliar physical contact would only increase his discomfort.
Nor would he ever know that Luo Qingcheng, who watched him leave, still had limbs aching from exerting too much force, despite having learned combat arts.
[System Information Prompt]: “Pheromone collection: 250 milliliters.”
Luo Qingcheng pressed his lips together: “All that hard work for just one carton of milk’s worth?”
[System]: “Correct, just the tip of the iceberg. It is far from enough.”
Luo Qingcheng: “Your information is unreliable. If this happens again, the punishment is reciting textbook passages.”
[System]: …
Luo Qingcheng straightened his cuffs: “Surviving in the yellow zone without throwing hands would be a miracle.”
[System]: “Triggering a miscarriage is not as breezy as you think. You would end up lying in a hospital bed with a backrest wedged under your buttocks, your mouth full of the bitter taste of foul-tasting prenatal Chinese medicine. You would love to say you are not stupid enough to do something that humiliating, unless you want to die.”
Luo Qingcheng: !
Suffering from morning sickness and stomach spasms in the hospital had intensified his tokophobia. Throwing punches with unequal size and physical capacity carried clear risks, but did he not win? If he really miscarried, then that little tadpole did not deserve his sustenance and sacrifice anyway. No matter how many times it happened, he would still strike.
Luo Qingcheng: “If I win the inheritance, I have one condition: give other failed transmigrators a choice and a chance to live.”
[System]: “Why?”
Why? Even Luo Qingcheng did not know. The rich heir’s miserable death reminded him of his mother, who had died of hemorrhaging while giving birth to him.
She had died with her eyes open, and he was her killer. For all ten months of her pregnancy, she had resented him. He could not understand why, if she hated him so much, she had not just ended him.
Now, as a male with a little tadpole in his abdomen, he felt not only disgust, but terror.
Yet this road, filled with danger and fear, had become a path he had no choice but to walk. Ultimately, he would find the answers he sought right in the midst of terror.
Luo Qingcheng changed the subject: “Do you know what the most brilliant part of my other life was?”
[System]: “What?”
Passing every single exam with flying colors.
Suddenly, the loud sound of shattering glass echoed out, originating precisely from the area where Luo Qingcheng was supposed to be delivering drinks.
[System]: “Go quickly and collect pheromones.”
Luo Qingcheng pushed his service cart forward. The Alpha, stripped of his pheromones and left half-naked and disheveled, was sprawled out in the dark.
However, as he turned to leave, a new thought occurred to him. He had to teach this lower-body-driven Alpha a profound lesson.
Luo Qingcheng put on disposable gloves, walked back, bent down, stripped off the remaining clothes of the guy until not a single thread was left, tossed him up onto the restroom ceiling frame, and washed his hands six times before finally pushing his service cart away.
So satisfying!
Forty minutes earlier, inside the luxury private room.
Everyone who entered was checked by the Alpha Qiao Buyi at the back of the neck to ensure their scent-suppressing patches were securely applied. Over a dozen Alphas, accompanied by petite and delicate Omegas, chatted, laughed, flirted, and drank amidst a haze of cigarette smoke and fine wine.
A beautiful Omega looked at Qiao Buyi under the lights, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes before he said softly, “Brother Qiao, your tie is crooked.”
Without waiting for Qiao Buyi’s reply, the Omega had already straightened it for him.
Convinced his tie was not crooked, Qiao Buyi did not expose the lie, choosing instead to politely brush past the Omega’s arm. “Thank you.”
Once everyone had arrived, the host Alpha, Huo Jing, stepped into the center. The ambiguous and dissolute atmosphere instantly vanished as if kissed by a spring breeze. Everyone instantly wiped the smiles from their faces, putting on serious expressions against the backdrop of soft background music.
“I assume you have all received the funeral invitation from Qiantian Group’s Mu Xiao. I wonder if everyone’s invitation notes are the same.”
In the quietened space, the air seemed to thin out, making everyone feel as though they had entered an altitude of several thousand meters.
Suddenly, someone unable to bear the tension blurted out, “Willed an inheritance?”
Immediately following: “The one who cries the most?” “The one who burns the most incense before the bier?” “The one who keeps vigil the longest?”
At this point, they exchanged glances filled with a mixture of sighs and murmurs. Those who had not spoken out confirmed that their notes were identical as well, their tense palms breaking out in cold sweat.
If Luo Qingcheng had been there, his invitation would have been the lone exception.
“He must be messing with people. Mu Xiao is dead; his only relative, his uncle, can completely take over the inheritance.”
“That is the strange part. How could the invitation have been sent out without his uncle’s consent?”
“Qiantian Group’s fields are extensive, as they dabble in scientific research, and suppression drugs are also undergoing new project development. Rumors say the suppression drugs they are researching can transform uncontrollable pheromones into controllable superpower-like abilities. Imagine if it succeeds: combined with all his other assets, his inheritance would be wealthier than a nation.”
“That pheromone research should be aimed at the pheromone riots in A-City a few years ago,” Qiao Buyi said with a slight nod, “though rumors are always derivative of the truth and should not be taken literally.”
As everyone knew, seven years ago, the pheromone suppression and slaughter range of that riot swept across three thousand meters. All life in the epicenter, including plants and vegetation, was wiped out entirely, while those on the outer edges spent three to four years hospitalized, plagued by miserable aftereffects.
Qiao Buyi had narrowly escaped with his life.
“The rioters behind that pheromone incident died on the spot back then. But just to be safe, Mu Xiao was the only one who could easily persuade government officials to provide strong backing. Suddenly, news breaks that he died in an accidental plane crash. Ordinary people dying by accident is already shocking and unbelievable. Do you all not think his death feels more like a conspiracy?”
An Alpha beside him patted his shoulder. “But he really is dead, and the funeral is in twelve hours.”
“I refuse to believe massive fortunes are just given away. Putting ourselves in his shoes, would you? Would you? Or would you?”
Each Alpha eagerly voiced their thoughts like a pack of wolves, while the Omegas nestled close to their Alphas in silent assent and obedience.
“Huo Shao gathered everyone here to discuss this, surely you do not mean to turn the impossible into the possible, do you?” Qiao Buyi spoke mildly. With his scholarly appearance behind gold-rimmed glasses, no one took him for someone hiding a sharp edge.
In contrast, Huo Shao stood tall and imposing. Viewed from the perspective of someone seated on a natural sofa, he looked more like a tiger lying in wait, a pack leader.
“Think about how arrogant Mu Xiao was while he was alive. I ask you, which of us here has not been given the cold shoulder by him? His stunt is nothing more than an attempt to make us kill each other and make fools of ourselves, which means we are all in the same boat,” Huo Shao said, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
“Let us conspire together on a good show of how to carve up his entire inheritance, and make him die all over again in hell.”