Chapter 43: Action Part 2

Inside the window, under shadowless lighting, was an empty field with strangely shaped equipment gleaming coldly and standing silently. Some devices seemed to be in a not fully shut down standby state, their indicator lights flickering faintly.

The cold metallic scent in the air peaked here, mixed with a faint, indescribable pungent odor.

His gaze did not linger on the equipment but pierced through the observation window to several giant culture tanks in the field interior.

The labels on the culture tanks were mostly obscured by shadows, only faintly showing test numbers and identity information. Suspended within the culture tanks were human after human, all already dead.

Based on the identity info and builds, the vast majority in the culture tanks were betas.

What did they need so many betas for?

Yan Xinfeng’s fingers tapped silently once at the seam of his tactical uniform by his side.

The door to the experimental field opened.

…

…

After changing clothes, Wei Tingxia leaned against the hovercar and waited a long time before seeing another figure emerge from the building.

“How did it go?”

He tossed the duckbill cap into the distance. Yan Xinfeng walked up to him with an unchanged expression and shook his head.

“Nothing found,” he said. “You?”

“Me? Nothing either.”

Wei Tingxia tapped the hovercar beneath his hand. Suddenly, eerie red lights lit up deep in the building, snaking through the structure like the blood vessels of some creature. Immediately after came continuous muffled booms, like someone pounding a massive drum deep underground.

“But one thing I’m certain of,” Wei Tingxia said. “The top three floors of this building don’t need anyone alive.”

As his words fell, the building disintegrated amid the red light. The blast wave rolled in with dust and debris. Wei Tingxia narrowed his eyes, letting the flying ash settle on his lashes.

In the dim darkness, Wei Tingxia’s profile revealed a sharp, cold indifference like a blade’s edge. He stared at the building as if recalling something, his eyes flickering.

Watching the splashing glass shards refract fragmented light in Wei Tingxia’s eyes, Yan Xinfeng suddenly remembered the scattered records he had seen in the experimental field.

Those betas were no longer truly betas. They had developed omega reproductive cavities, but for some reason, their glands and cavities had not fully matured before they died in the experiments.

These discoveries led Yan Xinfeng to many bad associations, and the worst one was standing right at his left hand side at that moment.

“Let’s go.”

Wei Tingxia suddenly spoke up. As he turned to pull open the car door, a piece of building debris flew past his ear and shattered against the door. He didn’t even blink. “The patrol team will be here soon.”

A prince and a future prince consort appearing outside the ruins of an illegal experiment site—they could never explain that away.

Yan Xinfeng understood his meaning. “Where to next?”

Wei Tingxia sat in the driver’s seat. Once the control panel lit up, he said flatly, “Taking you to get a room.”

“Really?” Yan Xinfeng, who had been tricked once before, was skeptical. “We could actually respect the premarital chastity tradition.”

Wei Tingxia said nothing and floored the accelerator. The hovercar shot forward ten li in an instant. In just over ten minutes, it truly pulled up in front of a high-end private hotel.

His assistant had already booked a room in advance. The moment Wei Tingxia stepped out of the car, a service staff member came forward to greet him.

“Second Highness, the room is prepared. Please follow me this way.”

The service staff’s gaze mainly stayed on Wei Tingxia, but they couldn’t help stealing a couple of glances at Yan Xinfeng.

This was where the high quality of a luxury hotel’s staff shone through. Any ordinary person seeing such a tall and burly omega checking into a room with a prince would stare or try to fish for a name, but this attendant merely glanced twice before lowering their head, as if suddenly struck by selective blindness.

“Mm.”

Wei Tingxia acknowledged with a sound but didn’t move right away. Instead, he reached out to the side. Yan Xinfeng stepped forward understandingly, thinking he wanted to hold hands, only to have Wei Tingxia pull him in by the waist.

“Let’s go, baby,” the omega disguised as an alpha said smoothly, like a fish in water. He planted a frivolous kiss on Yan Xinfeng’s cheek. “Taking you to rest.”

Dazed, Yan Xinfeng let himself be led along. He dodged people the whole way, and unexpectedly, a thrill of unmarried sweethearts sneaking forbidden fruit truly stirred in his heart. The moment they entered the room, before the lights could even come on, he spun around quickly, gripped Wei Tingxia’s waist, and lifted him up.

“Hey, you…”

His words were swallowed by a kiss. The pungent scent of the chemical agent slowly evaporated and dispersed amid the contact of lips and tongues, replaced by something more primal, sweeter, and more intoxicatingly entwined. Wei Tingxia’s vision blurred. He felt Yan Xinfeng kissing him extra hard this time, nipping from his lips all the way to his neck, teasing the gland at the nape intentionally or not.

He couldn’t allow a marking right now. He was on Capital Star—if his scent changed, it would definitely raise suspicions.

Wei Tingxia pushed at Yan Xinfeng’s chest. “No.”

Yan Xinfeng didn’t budge. “What’s no?”

“No marking,” Wei Tingxia emphasized. “Too dangerous.”

He thought he’d made himself clear, but Yan Xinfeng ignored him and licked the gland anyway.

The wet sensation made Wei Tingxia’s hairs stand on end. He tried to kick, but Yan Xinfeng hooked his leg and lifted it even higher.

He took a deep breath. “If you dare bite, I’ll smash your head in.”

“And what else? Want to stab me?” Yan Xinfeng asked.

He finally lifted his head then. His dark gaze lingered on Wei Tingxia’s face—not angry, more like simple narration.

“Not quite,” Wei Tingxia said casually. “That’s a higher level of punishment.”

He said whatever came to mind, not shying away from their past dirty conflicts at all, but Yan Xinfeng’s expression changed.

Wei Tingxia noticed and brushed his fingers over Yan Xinfeng’s brow. “Are you mad?”

“No.”

Yan Xinfeng denied it, then leaned in for another kiss on Wei Tingxia’s wet, swollen lips.

Bonded AO pairs had a degree of mental induction. Wei Tingxia could sense that Yan Xinfeng truly wasn’t angry.

That made it even stranger—why bring up the past all of a sudden? Wei Tingxia was puzzled. Just as he opened his mouth to ask, he was kissed again. Yan Xinfeng’s pheromones made his head spin, and he unconsciously sank into it.

By the time the clouds and rain dispersed and he regained clarity, several hours had passed.

Wei Tingxia sprawled on the bed yawning. Halfway through, he suddenly remembered something and directed Yan Xinfeng to open the light brain.

A bolded, enlarged news alert jumped into their view.

【Suburban abandoned building explodes suddenly, emergency rescue evacuates nearly a hundred people.】

The accompanying image showed thick smoke billowing upward, rescuers bustling about, and not a single victim in sight.

Wei Tingxia sat up, took a sip of water, and connected the comms.

A hoarse, familiar male voice came through. “Rescued 237 people. Most are in comas, some mentally unstable. Over 65% are betas.”

Wei Tingxia hung up and watched Yan Xinfeng adjust the light brain.

“…There must be more in other places,” he said.

Yan Xinfeng nodded without speaking.

The news hedged its words—no mention of experiments or those trapped. That in itself showed a bias.

“Official records don’t mention beta disappearances anywhere,” Wei Tingxia said as he scrolled through data from System 0188. The more he read, the tighter his brows furrowed. “There are occasional folk reports, but they’re quickly suppressed.”

“What about the military?” Yan Xinfeng asked. “How are the alphas in the army?”

If civilians had no records, the military was even less likely. But just thinking of the Blue Nail Ship made it clear things weren’t that simple.

Wei Shu was impressive—smart and ruthless enough—but he didn’t have arms that long. Only one person in the entire Empire could pull this off.

Wei Tingxia tossed the light brain onto Yan Xinfeng’s lap over the covers. “You’ve been investigating the Blue Nail Ship. What else did you find?”

“Small batches of military personnel missing—not many, maybe two or three at a time. Easy to classify as battlefield losses or desertions. Some vanished after retiring—not many either.”

But those trickles added up to a shocking number all the same.

Throughout his investigation, Yan Xinfeng had one nagging question: What did Capital Star need with so many alphas?

Now he thought he understood.

…

The room’s lights were soft. When they fell on the person beside him, it was like a layer of holy, glowing gauze, evoking wedding vows and promises of fidelity.

Yan Xinfeng had tried to memorize every version of Wei Tingxia under such lights, so he always looked extra intently, his gaze heavy with weight.

Their relationship could hardly be called perfectly harmonious. There were always arguments and clashes. The hours after passion were often when they were most at peace, and Yan Xinfeng would say whatever was on his mind then, groping moments of gentle understanding from past quarrels.

But tonight, one sentence stuck in Yan Xinfeng’s throat like a fishbone, leaving him speechless.

To the people of Capital Star, Wei Tingxia was an alpha.

A prince who, from the second of his birth, had endured countless scrutinizing gazes. The research institute handled his physical exams and differentiation identification. Researchers staked their careers on analysis after analysis—how could they misjudge, identifying an omega as an alpha?

Or perhaps Wei Tingxia was meant to be an alpha, and something went wrong midway, turning him into an omega.

And that very issue was what drove Wei Tingxia to flee Capital Star for three years, living in exile under a false identity.

…

Yan Xinfeng had always thought himself bold. Now he realized that when it came to loved ones, even the bravest became cowards in an instant.

“Xiao Xia.”

He called softly and shifted to the headboard. Ignoring Wei Tingxia’s puzzled look, he pulled him into his arms.

Wei Tingxia shifted a little. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Yan Xinfeng said, stretching his arm. His palm pressed against Wei Tingxia’s lower abdomen. “Just want to hold you.”

Even stranger, but perhaps the atmosphere was too alluring, Wei Tingxia didn’t resist further and leaned back into his embrace.

The instant the omega truly settled in his arms, Yan Xinfeng felt like a knife stabbed his heart.

Have you suffered a lot? he wanted to ask. Did many people bully you?

Those questions would surely anger Wei Tingxia if voiced, so Yan Xinfeng thought them over and swallowed them back down.

He held tighter, nuzzling Wei Tingxia’s shoulder. After hesitating, he murmured, “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Wei Tingxia turned his head. “Where to?”

“The border. It’s all arranged here—I’ll be back soon.”

“Then be careful. Don’t get bombed halfway or delay the wedding.”

Wei Tingxia’s concern was uniquely phrased. Yan Xinfeng smiled and nodded.

“Don’t worry.”

At that moment, 43 hours remained until Lin Tao’s arrival on Tansvika Planet.