Chapter 27: Brown Eyes (I)

Capital Planet, the Slum.

The weather today was very nice. Sunlight was bright, and a gentle breeze blew steadily. It was just around sunset, and the warm sunlight filtered through the cracks in the window, spilling onto Shen Qiuxun and warming him through.

Shen Qiuxun propped his head up with one hand, dozing off at the front desk. A silhouette suddenly fell before him. He looked up groggily, his tone slightly impatient. “Something up?”

This was his third day on the Capital Planet. That so-called Spacetime Fluctuation had shaken him hard enough to see stars. He’d needed a full day’s sleep to barely recover. That candidate Capture Target was only a disembodied voice without a face, appearing for a moment before inexplicably disappearing again. Who knew who it really was.

Fortunately, like the last mission, this mission also provided him with a one-bedroom, one-living-room, one-bathroom rental apartment—a single-occupancy type—and a job doing odd jobs at a rundown Small Hotel.

His hair had grown ridiculously fast because of the Spacetime Fluctuation, so the first thing he did was find a cheap barber shop for a haircut. That barber’s skill was truly terrible. His bangs were cut unevenly, thick in some places, thin in others, the middle lock reaching between his brows in an M shape. His forehead was completely exposed—very breezy, which left one feeling utterly insecure. The hair on the sides was a bit long, covering his ears.

Cheap things were no good.

“Uh…” Xian Zeyang would blush the moment their eyes met. His head would spin, and he’d stammer nervously. He rubbed his hands together. “Brother Shen, it’s like this—I’ve made a bit of money and wanted to treat you to a meal. Whaddya say, give me some face.”

“A meal?” Shen Qiuxun rubbed his sore arm and let out a shallow yawn. “Busy. Scram.”

“Oh.” Xian Zeyang looked a little disappointed, staring blankly at Shen Qiuxun’s eyelashes, damp with tears from the yawn.

Shen Qiuxun lifted his eyelids and cast him a cool, sidelong glance. Clear and cold, misty and distant.

“Oh, oh, oh, okay. I’m scramming right now.” Xian Zeyang fled, face burning. He ran to the entrance of the Small Hotel, then stopped and looked back.

Shen Qiuxun sat behind a large wooden counter. The exposed wrist resting on it was slender and pale, like a piece of porcelain hidden away as a treasure in a museum.

He recalled that fleeting, dismissive glance from moments ago. His face burned bright red. Clutching the bit of money in his trouser pocket, he quickly left.

【Host, please actively complete the mission.】

‘How am I supposed to complete it when the mission target hasn’t even shown himself?’

Shen Qiuxun switched the arm propping his head and, bowing his head, drifted right back off to dreamland.

【…】The System silently observed the small half of its host’s exposed face for a long time. Strangely, it felt its main processor heating up.

Just like that, it went on until the afternoon. Suddenly, an inorganic electronic voice rang out in Shen Qiuxun’s mind:

【Detected a nearby target available for capture. Host’s mission time remaining: twenty-nine days.】

“?” Shen Qiuxun abruptly lifted his head and scanned his surroundings. There wasn’t a single person in this rundown little hotel. Customers were few and far between.

‘Is the capture target a ghost?’

【No.】

His head full of question marks, Shen Qiuxun was pondering this when he suddenly heard footsteps at the door. A team of Neighborhood Office staff in matching blue uniforms swaggered in.

Three people. Tall, short, fat, thin. None of them were handsome.

The short, plump staff member leading them, Xiang Rui, looked around. Spotting Shen Qiuxun behind the counter, his eyes lit up. After deliberating over the proper term of address for a moment, he spoke. “Little Brother, we’re staff from the Neighborhood Office.” He passed over his ID and continued, “Someone reported this hotel as a gathering place for illegal drug use. We need to conduct a search.”

Shen Qiuxun glanced at the ID and ducked his head in a yawn. “Oh. Go ahead and search.”

“?” Xiang Rui looked at Shen Qiuxun twice more. “Then we’ll need you to lead the way, Little Brother.”

‘The Capital Planet really is something else, huh. Their inspection efforts are quite strong.’

【The people on the Capital Planet are into far kinkier things.】

Shen Qiuxun stood up, took a card from the cabinet, and opened the counter door to walk out. “Yeah, let’s go.”

It was then that another staff member finally arrived leisurely from outside. He was tall and broad-shouldered, needing to duck his head to enter through the low hotel doorway.

His skin was pale, dark hair swept back. Black hair, black eyes. His features were clear and handsome. A pair of silver-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his straight nose. The simple blue uniform shirt and black trousers fit him well, accentuating his broad shoulders and narrow waist, lending him an air of disciplined reservation.

He was holding a thick stack of documents and another instrument. Everything was piled on him alone, like a workplace newcomer being bullied by his senior colleagues.

The newcomer met Shen Qiuxun’s gaze, nodded politely at him, his eyes slightly crinkling into a soft curve, then quickly lowered them, lashes trembling.

Only after a long moment did he hesitantly raise his eyes again to meet Shen Qiuxun’s, revealing a trace of unconscious delight. Then, after a short pause, he silently withdrew the look, restoring his originally dignified and indifferent expression.

‘The Capture Target?’

【Yes.】

Shen Qiuxun withdrew his gaze and followed behind the leader up the stairs. The staircase was also extremely narrow. They had to line up single file and move slowly. Shen Qiuxun naturally found himself falling to the back, standing right next to that Capture Target.

The man, still having to carry a huge pile of things in this cramped stairwell, was truly constricted. Yet, not a hint of resentment showed on his face. When Shen Qiuxun reached out to help steady the instrument, he shot him a grateful look. However, his nature seemed excessively shy; the moment their eyes met, his gaze hastily darted away.

‘My god, this guy’s temper is way too good.’

The System said nothing.

Their group of people finally reached that floor and then began checking room by room.

Fu Mingchuan simply followed behind the others, staring blankly at the back of Shen Qiuxun’s neck. The hair was jet black, the skin of the nape clean and pure like a handful of fresh snow. The man swallowed and restrained himself, lowering his head. But the snow-white image involuntarily replayed in his mind, making the roots of his ears burn.

The huge commotion up ahead seemed, in Shen Qiuxun’s view, utterly brainless. Anyone truly doing something illegal would have long since fled upon hearing this racket.

Before he could even finish his internal complaint, he heard that person call out: “Little Fu, come here, come here.”

“Excuse me.” Fu Mingchuan moved close behind Shen Qiuxun, his gaze unfocused and looking elsewhere. But even the tips of that person’s hair seemed to carry a faint fragrance. He couldn’t help but tilt his head back, trying to evade it.

The magnetic voice grazed past Shen Qiuxun’s ear. He rubbed his ear and, complying, stepped aside to make room.

The man turned sideways and stepped forward to begin assembling the instrument. His lashes were thick, his nose bridge straight. Even kneeling on the floor, he still possessed a refined and upright aura.

They actually caught someone.

Shen Qiuxun crossed his arms and stood outside the door, looking in. It was a double room. The lighting was poor. With the curtains drawn added to that, the room smelled damp and decayed. But after standing there a moment, he smelled an intensely sweet peach scent.

Looking again, the short, plump staff member leading the team was already showing some reddening of the skin.

Omega Pheromone Concentrate, but industrially manufactured. The Pharmacy from before had plenty of this stuff.

Because Alpha Bonding Heats were extremely domineering, coupled with the Federation’s strong protection of Omegas, most lower-class Alphas might go their entire lives without ever encountering an Omega. To improve their living conditions, a product called Industrial Omega Pheromone Concentrate appeared on the market, acting as a substitute for Omega Pheromones.

But wherever there’s trade, there’s harm.

Industrial Pheromone Concentrate naturally couldn’t compare to real Pheromones. Thus, the industry chain of kidnapping and breeding Omegas to extract Pheromones into a concentrate for sale emerged. It was classified as a top-tier contraband by the Federation.

There had been a major case involving over a hundred Omegas before. Such things were now strictly prohibited within the Federation, and inspection efforts had consequently increased.

This small room unexpectedly had five people in it together. The scene was utter chaos.

And so, the three staff members and five guests started arguing loudly.

Seeing things turning sour, Xiang Rui reached for the gun at his waist. The pitch-black muzzle aimed inside the room. The air instantly fell silent.

Just then, the instrument before Fu Mingchuan finally produced the test result. It was Industrial Concentrate.

The few older seniors from the Neighborhood Office couldn’t accept this easily-won political credit. They demanded he retest it. So Fu Mingchuan silently ran the test again. The measurement method was very complex, and restarting the machine was even more so. Fu Mingchuan was unhurried, his movements under the machine fluid and proficient.

The three people who had lost face in front of the guests could only try to regain their face by picking on their junior.

“Little Fu, you’ve been here so long, yet you still can’t operate this instrument proficiently. Young people nowadays, just all talk, no substance…”

Leaning against the doorframe, Shen Qiuxun listened to the few people’s patronizing lectures, rubbing his ear. He initially hadn’t planned to intervene, but that person’s incessant nagging was truly annoying.

Fu Mingchuan lowered his head and focused on his work. Shen Qiuxun stepped forward, crouched down beside the man, and then picked up a tube of Reagent to help.

With the two cooperating, the speed increased significantly.

Fu Mingchuan found a moment to look up at him. His black pupils reflected a tiny human silhouette. His gaze meticulously traced the other’s brows, the bridge of his nose, his lips, lingering a moment longer at the last place. A deep, probing desire surfaced in those profound black pupils. He licked his lips. Then he lowered his head again, hiding the excess expression within the shadows.

Shen Qiuxun picked up a tube of pale yellow reagent and looked up, his expression utterly innocent, akin to a student seeking advice. “Captain Xiang, is this the Reducing Agent or the Extraction Agent again?”

Xiang Rui was stunned by the question. Looking at the pale yellow reagent, he stammered for a long while. How would he remember clearly? Ever since Fu Mingchuan joined their team, all these tasks had been piled onto him. When Fu Mingchuan wasn’t there, the few of them would just follow the manual step-by-step every time they used this instrument. Who remembered this stuff?

He hemmed and hawed, unable to give an answer.

“Oh, judging by the little bro’s operation just now, it should be the Reducing Agent.” Shen Qiuxun bowed his head again and busied himself helping tinker with the instrument.

The few seniors felt as if they’d been slapped in the face out of nowhere. Their cheeks burned.

The second result came back quickly. It still indicated Industrial Concentrate.

The situation became awkward. The five people inside the room were extremely dissatisfied with their rough enforcement methods and demanded an explanation.

The few Neighborhood Office old-timers, long accustomed to their arrogance, naturally couldn’t bear to lose face. Faces alternating between blue and white, they dumped all the remaining cleanup work onto Fu Mingchuan again. Thus, the three of them swaggered off just like before.

But they held guns. The five people in the room could only swallow their anger. They turned their eyes to Fu Mingchuan, who was young, inexperienced, and looked easily pushed around.