——————————

XI Wei scratched the back of his head. He thought it was probably just a dream, and didn"t pay it any more attention. He went and ate breakfast with Aiden, and then they walked to the cla.s.sroom together.

Ellen Academy had already started for a week. As on the first day, every day Mr. Ivan smiled and put on various movies for the cla.s.s, lecturing on pheromones, heat, marking and how they were interrelated. Xi Wei followed Klaire"s advice. Every time Mr. Ivan came to teach health cla.s.s, Xi Wei would sit in the back row, open up his computer, put in ear plugs, and mind his own business. He"d read books or watch movies to pa.s.s the time.

Aiden took the opposite approach. He paid attention to the teacher and took notes.

Xi Wei couldn"t help but ask, “What are you doing, listening so seriously?”

Aiden smiled and said, “Of course we have to be clear about the matters of our own bodies. Otherwise, what are we going to do if the night of our marking arrives and we don"t know a thing? Not to mention, there are some alphas who don"t study properly in health cla.s.s. When the time comes for them to mark an omega, the omega has to do the guiding, or the marking will end in failure.”

Xi Wei: “...”

He probably should be studying properly in health cla.s.s, but the thing was, Xi Wei had simply never thought about getting marked by some alpha. He felt that this practice of marking was even more tortuous than being stabbed to death. At least with a knife, it would enter for a moment and then the pain would be over, whereas with marking, you had to get tossed about for three days and three nights before it ended. Just imagining it, Xi Wei thought that he"d rather die.

Faced with Aiden"s serious eyes, Xi Wei could only throw his hands in the air and say, “Alright alright, you go ahead and study. I won"t bother you.”

Having said that, he bent his head and continued watching his movie.

Mr. Ivan saw the black-haired head in the corner, looking down at something under the desk, and he couldn"t help but smile. He said, “Xi Wei, come answer this question.”

The instructive light on his desk lit up. Aiden lightly nudged him. Xi Wei, who had been called on, could only put down his computer, stand up and say, “Here, teacher.”

Ivan said, “List the specific characteristics of omega pheromones.”

Xi Wei: “...”

He hadn"t paid attention to this topic at all, let alone its specific characteristics.

Fortunately, Aiden helped him out by secretly opening the corresponding chapter for him on the computer. Xi Wei read aloud from the textbook, “The levels of omega pheromones present in the body will directly affect the timing of the heat. An adult omega"s pheromones are usually at a level of about 7.0. When the level rises above 9.0, they will officially enter heat.”

Ivan continued to ask, “Before the level rises to 9.0, is there any way to prevent it from doing so?”

Xi Wei scratched his head. “Uh…”

Aiden continued to be a helpful little angel, and pulled up the page on the e-textbook, pointing where he should look.

Xi Wei continued to read, “Before the heat comes, one can use a temporary mark to prevent its arrival.”

Ivan asked, “And what is a temporary mark?”

Xi Wei: “...”

Teacher, do you have a grudge against me or something? When is this interrogation going to end?

Xi Wei said plainly, “I don"t know.”

For his part, Mr. Ivan didn"t get angry. He smiled and walked over to Xi Wei"s desk, saying, “We went over this topic in the last cla.s.s. Aiden, please demonstrate for him.”

Aiden said, taken aback, “You want me to demonstrate?”

Ivan said, “Suppose you were an alpha. If you wanted to give Xi Wei a temporary mark, what would you do?”

Aiden could only bite the bullet and stand up. His cheeks tinted slightly red, he went over to Xi Wei and hugged him.

Xi Wei looked at him like he wanted to ask what he thought he was doing, his expression full of alarm. Aiden"s lips inched closer and closer to the back of Xi Wei"s neck, and lightly brushed his skin. He then quickly withdrew with a red face.

Ivan said, “Was that the kind of temporary mark I told you about? Is just kissing it for a moment enough?”

Aiden lowered his head and said, “I"m not an alpha anyway. Even if I bite him, there isn"t going to be a response.”

“...Alright, go sit down.” Mr. Ivan could only shake his head. Then he said, “Xi Wei, stay after cla.s.s.”

When Xi Wei heard this, he suddenly didn"t know whether to laugh or cry.

His performance just now apparently made Mr. Ivan very dissatisfied. Maybe he wanted Xi Wei to stay after cla.s.s for some individual tutoring. Xi Wei felt it was really magical. Temporary marking required you to bite someone"s nape; listening to it, it really sounded like the behavior of wild beasts. Aiden had only kissed him lightly, and he hadn"t felt a thing. If it were an alpha just now, they"d have to bite until they drew blood? Wouldn"t that hurt a lot? Hadn"t he heard that the pheromone gland was located there?

Before, at St. Paul Academy, Xi Wei had been a top student.

And now, this was really great, he"d become the kind of slacker student who had to stay after cla.s.s for remedial tutoring.

After cla.s.s, all the other students walked off. Aiden gave Xi Wei a glance, then also turned and left. Xi Wei could only stay behind alone.

All smiles, Mr. Ivan said: “It looks like I need to give you some remedial lessons. Xi Wei, come with me.”

Xi Wei looked at him, on guard. “Where are we going?”

Ivan said, “The anatomy laboratory.”

Xi Wei: “...”

Perplexed, he followed Mr. Ivan through the school building, and they soon reached the anatomy laboratory. There were several hundred anatomical models exhibited here. They were made of special materials, and looked exactly like real people, except that their skin was transparent. He could clearly see the nerves and organs within them.

Mr. Ivan walked forward and stopped in front of a particular model. He pointed to the model"s nape, where there was an oval gland marked out in purple dye. Ivan smiled and said, “The omega pheromone gland is located here. As you can see, it"s connected to blood vessels and consequently to the circulatory system. Omega pheromones are secreted from here. The typical adult omega"s pheromone levels are stable at about 7.0.”

He switched on the medical monitor next to it, which automatically measured the pheromone levels in the model. Sure enough, the display read “7.05.”

Ivan continued, “Because this gland is the source of omega pheromones, when this area is stimulated, the omega will experience a sensation of pleasure. If an alpha temporarily marks an omega by biting into this gland, their alpha pheromones will be absorbed into the omega"s body. This can temporarily suppress their omega pheromones, delaying their heat. However, this kind of temporary mark can only last for three months.”

After he finished saying this, he took out a needle and injected a tiny amount of alpha pheromones into the back of the model"s neck. As expected, the levels of omega pheromones present began gradually dropping on the monitor"s display nearby.

Ivan patiently explained, “It"s actually very easy to understand. Alpha and omega pheromones will naturally balance each other out. Alpha pheromones can suppress the activity of omega pheromones. However, once the omega"s pheromone levels break through 9.0, just relying on the temporary mark won"t be able to suppress it. At that time, the omega will enter heat, and the alpha will need to employ a more thorough method to control their omega pheromone levels. That"s where the permanent mark comes in.”

“If an omega in heat doesn"t receive the permanent mark, their pheromone levels will continue to rise. They will lose their faculty of reason, harm themselves in the throes of madness, and even eventually die.”

Seeing Xi Wei"s stunned expression, Mr. Ivan smiled and said softly, “Did you understand it this time?”

Xi Wei: “...I understand.”

Xi Wei really had to thank him for this diligent fulfillment of his duties, even bringing the slacker student to the specimen room for individual tutoring. This way, even if he didn"t want to listen, he couldn"t escape.

But then, according to what the teacher had said, if alpha and omega pheromones naturally balanced each other out, wouldn"t that mean that if an omega were given a constant supply of alpha pheromones, they would never acc.u.mulate a high enough level of omega pheromones, and therefore would never enter heat?

Xi Wei"s eyes brightened. He had suddenly thought of a possibility. He couldn"t help but ask, “Teacher, according to what you"re saying, omegas only enter heat because of rising pheromone levels. So isn"t there a way to lower those levels? Operating on the same principle as that of the temporary mark, couldn"t you manually inject alpha pheromones into an omega"s body?”

Ivan smiled and looked at him, saying, “How did you think of this?”

Xi Wei said, “I suddenly came up with it when I saw you give the injection. Since we understand the principle behind heat, then there must be a way to counter it, right?”

The principle behind medicine was to prescribe the right treatment for the illness. Omegas entered heat because of heightened hormone levels. There were two ways to counter this. The first was to surgically remove the pheromone gland, and cut off the production of pheromones at its source. The second was to use medication to control pheromone levels. Since alpha pheromones had a neutralizing effect on omega pheromones, didn"t that mean that alpha pheromones were the best medication to suppress heats?

Having thought to this point, Xi Wei couldn"t stop himself from interjecting in excitement, “You can use alpha pheromones to control it, right? That way, you won"t have to bother with heats, right?”

Ivan"s eyes flashed. After a moment of silence, he smiled and said, “Come this way.”

He walked with Xi Wei through the laboratory crammed full of anatomical models until they reached the very back. There, he abruptly grasped the hand of a model, and stared it in the face. As a result, that model"s eyes suddenly lit up, and it unexpectedly emitted a red laser beam and scanned Ivan"s irises!

There was a bang, and then Xi Wei felt a sensation of weightlessness. He was rapidly beginning to fall.

—In this laboratory, there was actually a trapdoor leading to a secret room!

Following their descent, the slab above their heads quickly fell shut. Their surroundings turned pitch-black, but Xi Wei wasn"t afraid. He could feel that Mr. Ivan was right beside him, and he didn"t seem to have the intention of harming Xi Wei.

There was a fingerprint scanner set into the anatomical model"s palm, and an iris scanner in its eyes. Only after verifying the user"s ident.i.ty would the trapdoor mechanism activate. He didn"t know who came up with this idea—it was simply too genius. In the laboratory crammed full of hundreds of models, who would"ve thought that underneath a certain one, there would be a secret door?

The platform they stood on was falling fast. He could hear the slight grinding sound of the mechanism. Xi Wei"s feet met the ground, and he saw in front of him a metal door glowing with a soft, silvery l.u.s.ter. Mr. Ivan pressed his palm to the door to verify his ident.i.ty, and the door opened. A wide corridor stretched out in front of them, lit on both sides by countless red lights. The s.p.a.ce in the corridor was densely crossed with red laser beams.

Xi Wei couldn"t help but think: This is really the style of a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster. Exactly what is Mr. Ivan studying in secret down here?

He looked doubtfully at the young teacher beside him, only to find that Ivan, who always loved to smile, now had on a very serious face. He turned his head and asked Xi Wei, “If there really was a medicine that could delay your heat, would you choose to take it?”

Xi Wei nodded without the slightest hesitation. “Of course. If there was a way to permanently get rid of my heats, that would be even better.”

Ivan said, “But this is expressly forbidden by the empire. If you were to be found out, you"d still be forced to marry an alpha, and your life might even be in danger... If that"s the case, would you still take it?”

Xi Wei said, “Can"t we just make up an excuse and not let people find out about it? Teacher, do you really have this kind of medicine?”

Ivan smiled, and verified his fingerprint and iris scan at the side of the hall. “Come with me.”

After he put his palm on the scanner, the laser beams in the corridor disappeared. Xi Wei followed closely behind him. After about a hundred meters, they reached the end of the hallway, where there was another solid metal door. Again, Ivan had to verify his ident.i.ty through scans. It could be seen that the place Ivan was taking Xi Wei to was top-secret, and that was why they needed to pa.s.s through so many security checkpoints.

After they went through the metal door, the two of them got onto a little airship. Under Ivan"s piloting, the airship flew around in a ring in the darkness for a long time, until Xi Wei was dizzy and could hardly tell directions apart anymore. At last, the airship landed at a place that was giving off soft blue light. From the air, that place looked almost like moonlight illuminating the ocean waves, that kind of deep blue color.

Only when the airship landed did Xi Wei find out that here, there was actually a ma.s.sive underground factory.

The security checkpoint here was even more strict. It wasn"t a fingerprint or an iris scan that was required here, but blood testing!

Ivan used a needle on the blood a.n.a.lyzing device by the door to p.r.i.c.k his finger. After the machine drew his blood and a.n.a.lyzed its components, it gave a beep when the gene results were found to match, and a green light lit up. The automatic door in front of them slowly opened.

At the same time, a computerized voice spoke out: “Welcome to the Omega Underground Alliance, Logia Planet General Headquarters.”

Xi Wei: “...”

There"s actually an underground organization? This is really opening his eyes!

Ivan took him through the door, and Xi Wei saw the factory floor, with countless machines operating in perfect precision. The workers here were all robots; Xi Wei didn"t see a single human. According to a preprogrammed sequence, the robots added a different kind of medicine at each section of the conveyor belt, in meticulous order. Xi Wei couldn"t see an end to the factory, and he didn"t know exactly what they were making here. But he felt that it definitely had something to do with what Mr. Ivan was talking about earlier, medicine that could be used to suppress heats!

Ivan brought him into a closed office and said, “Xi Wei, do you have any interest in joining the Underground Alliance?”

Xi Wei asked uncertainly, “Underground? What exactly does this alliance do?”

Ivan smiled and said, “This is an omegfounded underground organization whose main purpose is researching and developing heat suppressants. There are many omegas like you who hate going through heat, but the empire strictly prohibits suppressants from being sold on the market. So we can only rely on ourselves.”

“Wait, we?” Xi Wei looked at the man before him in shock.

Ivan smiled and said, “That"s right, I"m also an omega. Everyone thinks that I"m a beta, thanks to the help of specialized suppressants.”

Xi Wei: “...”

Ivan continued, “I"m the person the Alliance a.s.signed to be in charge of Ellen Academy. Every year, I carefully observe the newly-admitted students, and pick out a few capable, quick-witted ones who aren"t willing to yield to the Empire"s control. Then I recruit them for the Underground Alliance. Our organization"s founding belief is that we omegas can rely on our own power to make suppressants that we can secretly take in times of need.”

Xi Wei looked at Mr. Ivan with a complicated expression. “Suppressants? There"s really such a thing? If you changed ident.i.ties into a beta after taking them, how did no one notice?”

Ivan said, “Yes, this kind of medicine has actually been around for a long time. It"s just that in past years, there were some accidents, so suppressants were forcibly confiscated and banned by the military, and not a few omegas of the Underground Alliance were arrested as well. As for the origin of our organization, I"ll go over it in detail with you later. The question right now is whether you"re willing to join the Alliance. If you"re willing, then come with me to fill out your information. If you"re not, I"ll use a drug to erase this episode from your memory, and send you safely back to school.”

Ivan looked down at the watch on his wrist and said, “I"ll give you three minutes to think it over.”

From when he was small, Xi Wei had been looking for a way to avoid suffering through the hardships of heat, and today he had finally found it! This was a huge temptation laid out before his eyes. Xi Wei carefully considered it for a few moments, then nodded seriously and said, “I want to join!”

Ivan smiled and said, “Follow me, I"ll take you to register.”

He brought Xi Wei to another room with a large screen in it. Ivan let a robot take Xi Wei"s blood and scan his fingerprints and irises, and enter the information into the database. Then he looked at him and cautioned him, “Since the military expressly prohibits the use of suppressants, make sure no one"s around when you"re taking them. As for the secret of the Underground Alliance, don"t leak a word out to anybody, or you"ll bring disaster down on yourself and on all our heads. Are we clear?”

Xi Wei nodded. “Crystal.”

Ivan nodded and said, “The leader wants to see you, please wait for a moment.”

After he said it, he entered a complicated pa.s.sword into the screen in front of them and looked to be requesting a connection with the other side. The screen showed a message saying “Connection in progress,” and after a moment, the whole screen lit up. A face appeared in front of him that made Xi Wei feel as if he were dreaming.

“I"m the head of the Underground Alliance. Welcome to the Alliance, Xi Wei.”

The man on the screen carried a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, and his voice was as gentle and warm as he remembered it.

Xi Wei didn"t know whether to laugh or cry. After a moment, he called out: “Uncle? How is it you?!”

Berg said, “Surprised?”

Xi Wei: “...I completely didn"t expect it!”

Berg smiled and said, “Looks like my disguise was a success. Did the mecha activate?”

Xi Wei asked, disconcerted, “What mecha?”

Just as he was saying it, the blue necklace at his throat again emitted a soft voice. “The mecha AI Egret has already completed matching with the owner"s mind.”

Berg nodded in satisfaction. “Good, as the first S-cla.s.s mecha I made with my own hands, your performance in completing this task was properly outstanding. From now on, just stay at Xi Wei"s side, and protect him at all times.”

Xi Wei looked at the crystal necklace that was glowing softly, and as if he had seen a ghost, he took it off at once. “That voice was coming from inside this?”

The necklace he had worn for more than ten years had suddenly started speaking. It was no wonder Xi Wei was so surprised.

Berg explained, “That"s right. That necklace is the gift I gave you the year you were born, and there"s actually an S-cla.s.s mecha AI in it. I designed it so that it would only activate after fourteen years, on the 29th of August, the night of Ellen Academy"s opening. These past years, you never noticed that anything was different about the necklace because the system was still asleep.”

In other words, his uncle had already developed an S-cla.s.s mecha more than ten years ago!

So when he didn"t stay in the palace before he married, it was because he was working on this day in and day out. Since he was small, Xi Wei had always felt his uncle had a lot of talent, and a lot of interest in mecha manufacturing. He never would"ve thought that not only had his uncle made an S-cla.s.s mecha, but he was also the leader of the Omega Underground Alliance!

Xi Wei really wanted to bow down to him. From when he was small, Berg had taught him that omegas had to be strong and self-reliant. He had given him a top-grade mecha, and even encouraged the king to teach him how to fight...he had been planning ten moves ahead at all times. He really deserved to be called the uncle Xi Wei had respected since he was young!

Berg smiled and said, “That the pheromone level in your body is zero is something that I remotely controlled the robot at Ellen Academy"s freshman physical exam to say. I made it enter forged data into the school"s system. In fact, the levels of pheromones in your body right now are perfectly normal. But since your pheromone levels were recorded as being zero when you entered school, it"ll be easier to explain away the effects when you start taking suppressants later on. You can say that you inherited the genes of the royal family, and so your first heat is coming late the way mine did.”

Xi Wei suddenly saw the light. “So you mean to say, before you got married, you were also taking suppressants?”

Berg nodded. “That"s right. After the king chose a suitable alpha for me whom I was willing to marry, I stopped using them. So you don"t have to worry. Even after you grow up, as long as I"m here, I won"t let you be married off too early to an alpha you don"t like. If our Xi Wei doesn"t want to get married, he can just stay on suppressants. When you want to marry, you just have to pick the best alpha, the one that you like the most.”

Xi Wei was very moved. Having Uncle Berg as his backing was pretty great.

Berg continued, “Egret is the S-cla.s.s mecha I personally designed. Its AI is stored in your blue necklace, and its body is that white mecha I gave you earlier. The first thing you have to do right now is let the AI and the external body integrate completely, so that Egret can start properly working.”

Berg had been very careful. He had hidden the mecha AI in Xi Wei"s necklace, and programmed it to activate automatically when Xi Wei was fourteen, after he went to Ellen Academy. Then he had disguised the mecha body as an ordinary C-cla.s.s mecha, and given it to Xi Wei as a present.

This way, Xi Wei could avoid the defense network that monitored the interstellar gates. The underhanded way of getting around wasn"t too easy to do!

“Xi Wei, Ivan will explain the circ.u.mstances of the Underground Alliance to you in detail. You"ve already grown up, and it"s time that you take on some responsibilities. After your mecha finishes a.s.sembling, I"ll have some tasks for you to do. As for information regarding the Underground Alliance, you can"t leak it out to anybody. That includes mentioning it in front of your father. The palace has a security system monitoring it, and you don"t know who might be listening in. Do you understand?”

Xi Wei carefully nodded. “I understand.”

Berg said, “In the future, if I have something for you, I"ll contact you directly through your mecha. After the mecha completes his mental match with his owner, he can speak to them telepathically, without being overheard by others. Take good care of Egret.”

“I will! Thank you, Uncle!”

Berg smiled, then turned to Ivan and said, “Take a look at this year"s freshman cla.s.s and see if there are any more who can join the Alliance. Check them carefully. I"ll leave Ellen Academy to you.”

Ivan nodded and said, “Yes, Your Highness. I"ll see to it.”

After the call ended, with a face full of excitement, Xi Wei held up his necklace and opened the storage unit that held the C-cla.s.s mecha his uncle had given him. “How do I integrate them?”

A cute little white bird suddenly flew out of the necklace and alighted on Xi Wei"s palm. “Owner, you don"t have to trouble yourself over it. I can handle the integration myself. It"s great that I"ve finally found my body again.”

This was a hologram, the virtual form that the mecha AI had created for itself. The little white bird decisively flew into the center of the white C-cla.s.s mecha that Xi Wei had summoned out. After a moment, the mecha"s eyes suddenly lit up, and with a great clang, a pair of huge wings extended from the mecha"s back!

The mecha took the initiative to open its c.o.c.kpit and said in a gentle voice, “Egret has completed activation. Welcome, owner.”

Xi Wei looked at the beautiful, pure white mecha in front of him, and immediately jumped into the c.o.c.kpit in excitement.

He had gotten his hands on an S-cla.s.s mecha whose intelligence didn"t lose to anybody"s. This was really too great!

——————————

——————————