Early morning.
The Avalon Empire Star System.
Capital Star, Belon Star.
“You’re so annoying, Second Brother.”
A cute looking blonde boy complained and grumbled as he communicated with the person on the opposite end of his optical computer.
“Take inhibitors on schedule, apply blocking patches properly, and watch out for strange alphas, you’ve nagged me about all these things so many times already.”
He pouted and tapped the badge on his collar, aiming it at the lens of the floating mechanical sphere in front of him.
In front of a massive gate pieced together from steel giant wings, several other figures were performing much the same actions.
The boy waited for the mechanical sphere to complete its identity verification, looking around boredly.
“I know you’re worried that an omega like me will get bullied, but this is the Third Belon Military Academy, after all. Not all alphas are scumbags like the one from the Vaneri family.”
“Larry!”
The man on the opposite end of the communication glared disapprovingly at his younger brother. “You really are getting bigger and harder to manage. Do you know how great a military academy alpha’s physical fitness is? Do you know how many omegas are ‘accidentally’ marked and then forced to submit!”
Such an old fashioned stick in the mud.
Larry curled his lip.
“I know, I know. I promise I won’t run around blindly or make random friends…”
He muttered perfunctorily as he walked through the turnstile, glancing absentmindedly into the crowd.
Yet, at just that single glance, his gaze became completely fixed.
“…Whoa,” he said blankly.
The man’s words stopped at the edge of his lips, frowning: “What is it?”
“Such a good-looking… omega.” Larry stared with slightly parted lips toward the front right.
A black figured silhouette stood casually in the crowd.
Even from a distance, Larry could clearly see the other person’s smooth, deep cut jawline, high bridge of the nose, and beautifully shaped lips.
He wore black leather boots, the soft leather wrapping two slender calves, the fluttering fabric of his pant legs tracing the shape of the wind all the way up to tuck into a flower like shirt hem.
The lithe waist looked extremely thin from the side, yet faintly exuded an undeniable sense of hidden strength.
Visitor, please present your ID proof.
Like all incoming freshmen, he was stopped by the mechanical sphere.
At these words, the newcomer stretched out a finger wrapped in a silk glove, took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his chest pocket, then pressed the metal badge on his silk shirt.
Click!
A blue light activated by the scanner lit up on the crescent shaped ID badge.
Reading…
Name: Bo Tang
Age: 19 years’ old
Empire Citizen ID: BBL429674512345
Current Household Registration District: Belon Star (Capital Star), Egret Greater District, 267th Sub-district
The newcomer revealed a gentle smile, and this curve was faithfully recorded by the electronic lens into the surveillance camera.
The backend system began comparing whether the captured information and the citizen database records matched one to one.
Black long wavy hair: Match.
White skin: Match.
Black irises: Match.
Skeletal perspective model: Match.
At the front desk, the robot’s display screen turned to a verification passed green, and a few lines of text flashed past:
Visitor confirmed as an incoming freshman of the 2142 class of the Third Belon Military Academy.
Welcome, Your Excellency Bo Tang.
Bo Tang smiled softly. “Thank you.”
His lips were ruddy, and his lip shape was as full as a petal, revealing a hint of hidden silver white teeth when he smiled.
Clad entirely in dark night colors, he nonetheless radiated a brilliance that no one could ignore.
Without needing to ask, Larry knew this had to be an omega.
After all, alphas were universally tall and fierce, and betas were mediocre and bland. A pretty youth with such good looks and a gentle temperament had to be an omega!
Larry nodded fiercely in his heart and walked briskly over in that direction.
“Larry?” On the opposite end of the communication, the man called out to his younger brother in puzzlement.
“Brother! I saw a super pretty omega! I think we’re definitely going to become good friends!” The Larry on the screen looked very excited, his azure eyes flashing. “I’m not chatting with you for now, okay!”
The man wanted to say something more, but the communication abruptly went dark.
His good younger brother hung up very decisively.
The man’s face turned completely black.
At the entrance of the Third Belon Military Academy.
Bo Tang successfully passed through the turnstile, stepping unhurriedly through the school gates under countless prying gazes.
He was just about to open his optical computer to glance at the map when a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy suddenly bounced in front of him, a big smile plastered across his chubby face.
“Hello! I’m Larry Middleton.”
“Hello.” The black haired youth paused, reached out, and shook hands with him. “Bo Tang.”
His voice sounded like an ivory instrument soaked in seawater for tens of millions of years, the breath of the night washing over him.
It made Larry shiver inexplicably for a moment.
Strange. He looked around, the weather forecast said the temperature was pleasant today.
However, he didn’t take this small interlude to heart. After exchanging names, he stood very familiarly right beside Bo Tang.
“Bo Tang? Such a nice sounding name. Do you have Eastern ancestry?”
“Do you not know the way around here? I can show you the directions!” Larry said. “My second brother used to teach here, so I’m very familiar with this place.”
Bo Tang smiled gently, seeming somewhat hesitant. “Wouldn’t that be troubling for you?”
“Not a trouble at all.” Larry blinked, silently clicking his tongue in his heart.
What a perfect omega. Just a single smile, and even someone of the same sex has my heart beating wildly.
Still, his protective measures are done really well. I can’t smell any pheromones from Bo Tang at all.
Larry secretly glanced at the side of his companion’s neck, which was completely clean and bare.
He must be quite confident in his own self-control not to wear a blocking patch! His strength shouldn’t be underestimated!
Even if he’s not an S-class, he must at least be an A-class omega!
Larry grew even more determined to make friends with him.
He noticed that Bo Tang had put his sunglasses back on.
Larry asked curiously. “Your eyes are so pretty, why are you covering them up?”
He glanced at the sky, the radiation level wasn’t even high today.
Bo Tang said gently. “Apologies, it’s just that I’m a bit allergic to sunlight. Does this make you feel troubled?”
“Oh oh, it’s no trouble at all.” Larry felt something was a bit inexplicably strange, but didn’t think much of it. “No wonder you’re so pale. I was actually going to ask you to recommend what special skincare products you use.”
Learning that Bo Tang was heading to the dormitories, Larry led him toward the tree-lined path on the east side.
The voice by his ear chattered away, but Bo Tang didn’t seem to find it very noisy, a trace of a smile lingering at the corners of his lips.
Along the way, passing students cast odd glances at someone wearing sunglasses in this kind of weather, but he remained completely oblivious, occasionally responding good naturedly to Larry’s questions.
Larry wasn’t lying, all the way along, he acted like a competent tour guide, talking endlessly about the surrounding facilities.
Because of this concentration, the focused boy failed to notice that the person beside him, behind the tinted lenses, was scanning this palace like academy with nonchalant, dark eyes.
Deep within pupils more profound than the abyss, an interest completely inconsistent with his gentle temperament was revealed.
“Phew… gasp…”
After ten minutes of leading the way, Larry couldn’t walk anymore.
The Third Belon Military Academy was built expansively, and the young master, who rarely walked anywhere at home, was defeated by reality.
“I’ll order a cart over. Let’s take a rest before we walk…”
Larry panted, tapped his optical computer a few times, and pulled Bo Tang to the roadside to wait for the ride.
Bo Tang didn’t have any objections. “Alright.”
Larry fanned himself with his hand, his face flushed red.
It seemed that after the exercise, his blocking patch had shifted slightly, and a wisp of jasmine fragrance that couldn’t be completely concealed leaked out.
“!”
Larry quickly retracted that wisp of pheromones with a flushed face and firmly pressed down on his blocking patch.
Although they were of the same sex, this kind of behavior could still be regarded as a provocation. Some omegas intensely detested this sort of thing, and he didn’t know if his new friend belonged to that type.
He glanced sideways at the slender figure standing nearby, trying to judge whether Bo Tang was aware of his recent lapse in manners.
Fortunately, Bo Tang’s face was calm and composed, seemingly completely oblivious to the pheromone just now.
His aura was steady, without a single bead of sweat, and he didn’t even show much of a flushed flush from exercise.
“Bo Tang, your stamina is really good.” Larry looked at his new friend with envy.
Not only was he taller than him, but his physical condition was also better than his. He really wished he could become an omega like Bo Tang.
Before Bo Tang could speak, a commotion not far away caught the attention of both of them, as if someone was having a dispute.
As soon as he sensed gossip, Larry, who had just been panting with exhaustion, immediately lit up and bolted forward like a rocket, remembering to drag Bo Tang along with him before he left.
Bo Tang unobtrusively avoided skin to skin contact with him and followed along.
The direction of the source of the sound was the fork in the road ahead, and the closer they got, the louder the noise became.
Larry kept his guard up and stopped at a corner sheltered by trees.
“What do you mean?! It’s just a tiny nick, you could fix it at any random repair shop, and you’re trying to extort 300,000 star coins from me over this piece of junk?!”
The first voice to enter their ears was a clamoring male voice, seemingly complaining about the other party’s exorbitant demands.
300,000?
Imperial currency was extremely valuable. 300,000 star coins could support an ordinary family in comfort and freedom for seven or eight years.
If it was just a small nick from a collision, the other party indeed seemed to be asking an unreasonable price.
Bo Tang was just converting the purchasing power into this world’s economy when another voice reached his ears.
It sounded very nice, but it was exceptionally icy, sending shivers down one’s spine just by hearing it,
“I only want 300,000. Not a single coin less.”
“…What?!” Larry, who was beside him, suddenly straightened up, pulling Bo Tang upright as well.
Could it be an acquaintance of Larry’s?
Thinking this, Bo Tang cast his gaze toward the noisy spot.
Without the obstruction of the trees, he saw two people standing with their backs facing them.
One person was pacing back and forth impatiently, shouting loudly at the other.
The figure closer to him stood without much movement, shoulders and back flat and straight, posture tall, with a head of silver hair cascading to his waist reflecting striking brilliance.
Bright as the sunlight was, that mane of hair seemed completely untainted by any warmth, winding across the person’s shoulders like liquid metal, aggressively and coldly spilling into Bo Tang’s field of vision.
Dazzling. Eye catching.
A tiny breeze blew past.
Bo Tang narrowed his eyes slightly, the root of his tongue pressing against the base of his canine teeth.
After a moment of distraction, Bo Tang noticed that Larry’s body was trembling.
Recovering his wits, he glanced at him and found the other boy’s complexion could simply be described as atrocious.
“Why is it him?!”
Bo Tang slightly raised an eyebrow, quickly concealing it, and asked with curiosity. “Who is he?”
“That’s… that’s a lunatic!” Fear was hard to mask on Larry’s face. “A madman from the Vaneri family!”
Vaneri?
Bo Tang vaguely felt this surname sounded a bit familiar, though he couldn’t recall it for a moment.
Larry grabbed his arm and dragged him away to the side. “The car is here, let’s go, let’s go quickly. If that madman spots us, there’s no telling what might happen!”
The hover car quickly delivered the two of them downstairs to the dormitory building.
Larry didn’t have time to give a detailed account of the “madman,” as it seemed a relative from Capital Star had contacted him for a chat. He dropped Bo Tang off and left.
Before leaving, he pointed at his optical computer. “You have to read those links I sent you, okay? Next time if you accidentally run into that guy again, remember to stay away. That madman hates omegas the most!”
Bo Tang watched Larry’s car drive away and glanced at the batch of news links pushed all at once into his optical computer.
Shocking! Rumors of discord in the Vaneri family add another layer, uncle-nephew relationship breaks down unexpectedly over a stranger omega?!
Mad Snake Alpha severely injures an omega once again, suspected due to pheromone berserk!
Several houses in the Northwest Estate damaged, Mad Snake figure spotted within them.
Another omega suspected to have died at the hands of the Mad Snake, victim’s family demands 10 million in compensation and is rejected…
…
Bo Tang flipped through them roughly, finding over twenty titles.
The titles repeatedly mentioned “Mad Snake,” which must have been that person’s nickname.
The cold silver figure flashed across his mind.
Heinous crimes, huh? *
Bo Tang imperceptibly raised an eyebrow and turned to walk into the dormitory building.
Inside the rising elevator, Bo Tang’s crossed fingers tapped rhythmically against his arm.
Vaneri…
He always felt this surname had a sense of deja vu, like trying to grasp an object through gauze, the blurrier it was, the more he wanted to grab hold of it.
Bo Tang continuously searched his sparse memories here, and finally, that feeling of imminent realization suddenly became clear the moment he stepped out of the elevator.
His fingers stopped.
He remembered.
Bo Tang narrowed his slender eyes, raven feathers casting shadows beneath them.
In the admission notification document, he had been assigned a roommate named,
Anatoly Vaneri.