“Good morning, dear residents. Welcome to the daily morning broadcast of Bird City.”
Early in the morning, a soft electronic female voice chimed from the optical computer on the bedside table.
“Today is September 1, Year 2142 of the Star Calendar. The current region is the Capital Star, Belon, specifically the Peregrine District of Bird City.”
“The minimum temperature today is 22°C, and the maximum is 27°C.”
“The weather across the district is clear and sunny. The real time UV index inside the city’s protective shield is Level 2. Citizens may adjust their protective devices according to their needs for sunlight.”
“Friendly reminder: Today’s artificial wind is Level 5, which is moderate to strong. All Alpha and Omega citizens are urged to pay close attention to the expiration dates of their pheromone blocker patches to avoid causing distress to other citizens.”
“Anyone who intentionally leaks pheromones will be immediately brought to justice by the district enforcement brigade. Public spirited individuals are also welcome to actively report leads on those who intentionally cause a disturbance.”
“Wishing all citizens a wonderful day. The Bird City Municipal Center sincerely serves you.”
While listening to the morning broadcast, Bo Tang washed up in a leisurely manner.
Similar to the rules at universities on Earth, students here were required to undergo military training after completing their enrollment registration.
However, unlike Earth’s version of standing at attention and practicing running formations, military training here generally involved special training in pheromones and mental power. Due to the special nature of the Third Military Academy of Belon, there was an additional practical training session for particle guns and mechas.
Still, out of caution, Bo Tang applied a thick layer of sunscreen to his exposed skin.
He had no intention of eating breakfast in the cafeteria. Reaching into his luggage, he pulled out a small can of yogurt, opened it, and ate the crimson yogurt inside clean.
Before leaving the bathroom, he thought for a moment, took out a light-colored lip balm, and rubbed a tiny bit onto both of his cheeks.
The pale figure in the mirror finally gained a bit of color, looking much more energetic.
He flashed a gentle smile at his reflection and stepped out of his room.
As Bo Tang’s roommate, that “Mad Snake” could be considered quite well-behaved. Bo Tang hadn’t heard any movement from across the hall all night, including right now.
The dormitory was deathly quiet, anyone unaware would have thought the room was unoccupied.
However, Bo Tang didn’t pay too much attention to what Anatoly was doing. After confirming the location of the assembly classroom, he headed downstairs.
“Bo Tang, over here!”
As soon as he reached the classroom door, the blonde boy spotted Bo Tang and waved excitedly. “Come sit with me!”
Bo Tang complied and took a seat next to him. Larry leaned in a bit closer, acting familiar. “You’re finally here. I was so bored sitting here just now. The stinky Alphas nearby were almost staring holes through me. Good thing you’re here to share the burden with me now, hehe…”
The moment he sat down, Bo Tang had already noticed the surrounding gazes. It wasn’t quite suffocating, as most Alphas’ looks were mostly curious and amazed.
Yet, there were also haughty ones, unhesitatingly sweeping their gazes up and down Bo Tang’s neck.
Bo Tang pretended not to notice, listening to Larry’s endless stream of complaints.
Once the young master finished venting his fatigue, he started checking on the assignment given yesterday.
“Did you look at the link I sent you yesterday?”
“I did,” Bo Tang said with a smile, his expression a mix of curiosity and a trace of fear. “Are those reports all real?”
“Of course they are!” Larry widened his eyes. “Even if some parts are slightly exaggerated, the events actually happened.”
Bo Tang let out an “mm,” withholding judgment. His memories from Earth told him that the media’s tongue could not be completely trusted.
Larry glanced around and lowered his voice. “Don’t take it lightly. That guy is really dangerous. Didn’t you see that even His Majesty is paying special attention to his case? And you saw how in many cases he has a criminal record of harming Omegas, right? Let me tell you a secret, ”
His voice dropped even lower.
“I told you to stay away from him because he hates Omegas the most. Once, his fiancé accidentally released a tiny, tiny bit of pheromone during his rut, and that lunatic almost killed him.”
Larry straightened up and patted his chest. “I was there at the time. That guy just caught a tiny whiff of it, and his eyes bloodshot, he attacked that poor Omega like a rabid beast, almost breaking the person in half.”
That Omega spent a long time in the hospital afterward, the engagement was naturally broken off, and to this day he still had to see a psychiatrist regularly.
However, since this involved the parties’ privacy, Larry didn’t elaborate further.
Bo Tang wore a thoughtful expression. In this world, Alphas and Omegas were like the two poles of a magnet, if an Omega released pheromones, an Alpha ought to be attracted, rather than entering that kind of state.
So, the “madness” of the Mad Snake was actually a physical description?
Larry chirped, “Alright, let’s not talk about him. Anyway, just steer clear of him from now on. Besides, he’s a junior, so our schedules don’t overlap.”
He leaned in closer to show Bo Tang his optical computer, which displayed a campus forum.
Larry smiled ingratiatingly. “You’re famous now. A lot of people want your contact info!”
Bo Tang looked at the posts on the screen. Pure images, not a single word, just photos of Bo Tang taken from various angles, with a bunch of people underneath howling for his contact information:
I’ll offer 100,000 star coins as a bounty for this person’s contact info!
I’ll raise it, 200,000!
300,000!
Hey you Omega upstairs, what are you chiming in for? Go away.
Is a bounty to make friends not allowed? Always talking about romance, you Alphas are the most boring.
Wait a minute, did you guys look closely? The person isn’t wearing an inhibitor, there’s nothing on their neck or wrists. What if they’re a Beta? You guys are fighting over nothing.
What! How could they be a Beta! With genes this superior, how could they be an ordinary Beta! I won’t allow it!
Sorry, used some technical means, compared this face with the facial features of the heads of the top 1,000 families in the Empire, and the overlap rate is “as high as”… 20%.
Which means they look like none of the big shots at all.
Given that 99.99% of Omegas come from wealthy and powerful families, then…
Oh well, an unknown person is even more likely to be a Beta.
I won’t listen, I won’t listen! They MUST be an Omega!
Wake up, Betas are pretty good too. At least daily life isn’t plagued by pheromones.
Yeah, yeah. Every time my special period comes, I feel like I lose my mind. How long is a lifetime anyway? A quarter of it is taken up by ruts and heats, what a waste of time.
In my opinion, they might be a weak Alpha. That height isn’t short, you know.
A pretty Alpha is also nice. The world has suffered under burly Alphas for too long…
Watching the topic of the post drift further and further off course until it finally turned into an expression-preference (XP) exchange thread, Bo Tang thought…
He silently exited the interface. However, this post had a huge amount of traffic, aside from this one, the homepage only had a scattering of minor spam posts.
Just as he was about to return the optical computer to Larry, his gaze was caught by the title of another post:
Shocking! A traffic accident appeared on Banyan Avenue! Suspected clash between the Unmentionable One and an innocent passerby!
It looked more and more like a description of yesterday’s car accident they had witnessed.
Just as he wanted to click in to read the details, the arrival of the teacher at the podium interrupted him.
“Good morning, students.”
Bo Tang raised his eyes. At some point, a middle aged man with graying temples had appeared at the podium.
The person on stage swept his gaze across the crowded classroom and introduced himself: “I am your head instructor for this academic year, Xu Shi. You can address me as Professor Xu.”
Larry whispered quietly, “I heard this professor is super strict. Both our professional general courses and specialized courses are taught by him. Let’s hope he doesn’t fail too many of us later.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Professor Xu looked over in their direction as if he had wind-sensitive ears, startling Larry into sitting up straight immediately.
Xu Shi withdrew his gaze and said, “I believe everyone is already aware that starting today, there will be a month long military training session. If there are any classmates currently in a special period or about to enter one, please prepare yourselves accordingly. Whether it’s suppressants or a preferred marking partner of choice, I hope nobody from Medical Class 1 misses out on military training.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a small wave of discussion erupted across the classroom.
“What the hell, does the professor mean even if you have a partner, you have to hold back during your heat? You can only use temporary marks for relief? That’s too inhumane!”
“Isn’t this military training just a formality? Is there any reason why we must attend the whole thing? We can’t just drop a business worth billions back home for some lousy military training!”
“It’s over, my rut is coming in two days, I need to buy suppressants right now.”
All kinds of voices poured into Bo Tang’s ears.
In the interstellar era, advanced AI could already provide symptomatic treatments for the vast majority of illnesses. Even though human races had evolved and strengthened, their storage and reaction speeds still fell short compared to electronic brains. As a result, the status of the medical profession nowadays was somewhat awkward.
Those who chose this major nowadays either had mediocre aptitude or were just passing through to get a degree.
Although Bo Tang had other motives for choosing this major, the surrounding Alphas were clearly sitting here for the reasons mentioned above.
And the reason why only the Alphas were complaining was because,
The only two people in the entire classroom who were not Alphas had not reacted at all.
Xu Shi’s gaze naturally landed back on them, and upon seeing their faces, a trace of surprise flashed in his pupils.
“Quiet.” Xu Shi’s suppressive mental power spread out slowly, and the classroom gradually quieted down.
Xu Shi pressed the corners of his lips together. “What are you arguing about? As medical students, how can you understand the changes in the human body without personally experiencing its various reactions?”
“Perhaps some of you chose this major to escape certain things, believing that medical science in the interstellar era requires no human effort and can be handled solely by AI assistance. But what I want to tell you is that no matter how tall a building is, it has a foundation. No matter how fast modern AI medicine develops, it is built by calculating and summarizing patterns from countless human brains. Do not underestimate the role of the human brain in any field.”
Xu Shi pointed in the direction of Bo Tang and Larry. “Look at yourselves. Why can’t you learn from these two Betas and Omegas?”
Just as he finished speaking, the entire classroom suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
That’s right, that’s right! Larry shook his head and bobbed it with a cheeky smile. Both Betas and Omegas can endure it, why can’t these stinky Alphas take it?
Wait…
Larry’s smile froze on his face.
What did the professor just say?
What and Omega…?
Larry stopped shaking his head. Three seconds later, he turned his head sharply, looking as if he had just seen something that challenged his worldview.
Bo Tang raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Beta??!!”
“How could you be a Beta, ?!”
He shouted out what everyone was thinking.
Tsk.
Bo Tang tapped his cheek and slowly broke into an innocent smile. “I never said I was an Omega.”