A Charming and Cool Guy Finds Himself in a Chaotic Situation [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 3

Jiang Henggu’s reflexes were incredibly sharp. The moment Yu Mianfeng drew his weapon, he darted to the side, simultaneously using one hand to thrust the firearm’s barrel upward.

The bullet left the chamber, shattering the ceiling’s chandelier and sending crystal fragments showering across the floor.

It went exactly according to Yu Mianfeng’s calculations.

The only unexpected variable was a stray shard slicing across the back of Jiang Henggu’s hand as he braced himself against the floorboards, drawing a few thin lines of blood.

The scent of Alpha pheromones in the air spiked violently, though the Beta remained completely oblivious to it.

The physical jolt seemed to sober Jiang Henggu up considerably. He slowly released his grip on the gun barrel, his expression shifting from agony to a dull, dazed blankness.

“…I’m sorry.”

Yu Mianfeng swept a freezing glance over him.

Offering no verbal response, he attempted to stand up. His numb legs buckled slightly on the ascent, prompting Jiang Henggu to instinctively reach out to steady his arm, only to be ruthlessly shoved away without a shred of sentiment.

Left with no choice, Jiang Henggu anchored himself in place, lowering his eyes to watch Yu Mianfeng adjust his wrinkled attire.

As the Beta straightened his cuffs, the distinct ring of red swelling around his wrists came into sharp view faint finger marks left behind by his own grip.

He had merely intended to restrain Yu Mianfeng. Yet, even that level of force had left unmistakable prints on those pale, pampered wrists.

The Beta’s posture when fighting Alphas was always ruthlessly decisive and merciless. Following their routine sparring sessions at the academy, Jiang Henggu would frequently spot similar marks on his body, which the Beta consistently ignored as if he couldn’t care less.

He had always been entirely incapable of understanding the looks onlookers directed toward him. In Yu Mianfeng’s eyes, an Alpha’s romantic courtship and a physical provocation were categorized as the exact same thing.

After a brief stretch of silence, Jiang Henggu spoke again, his voice raspy: “I’m sorry… my rut suddenly hit me out of nowhere.”

Yu Mianfeng ignored him completely.

The Beta possessed only a superficial, textbook understanding of Alpha-Omega biology, entirely unaware of what these physical shifts actually implied. Incidents of Alphas losing control and harming civilians were by no means rare, so he simply assumed Jiang Henggu had been trying to assault him.

He was merely perplexed by a single detail. The original plot made absolutely no mention of a rut occurring at this juncture.

An accelerated Alpha rut can sometimes be triggered by extreme emotional volatility. Was it because he found out about my engagement to the Protagonist Shou?

Now that his mandatory task was complete, Yu Mianfeng had zero intention of lingering in this room. He cast a casual, deeply thoughtful glance toward Jiang Henggu.

Should I just let him off the hook that easily? No, I need to make him pay a small price.

Jiang Henggu was currently staring blankly at the sharp glass shards on the floor. A few droplets of blood from the cut on the back of his hand were slowly welling up, dripping silently onto the crystal fragments. He was entirely numb to the faint, throbbing pain, merely fixated on those two crimson stains in a daze.

He had been far too impulsive.

Betas were biologically incapable of being marked; whatever pheromones he forced onto Yu Mianfeng’s skin would inevitably dissipate into the wind before long. No one could truly possess him—let alone a Protagonist Shou who posed absolutely zero physical threat to him.

Amidst his deep contemplation, he felt two sharp kicks strike his shin.

Yu Mianfeng shattered his train of thought, demanding icily: “Do you need a suppressor?”

Large-scale banquets always maintained a stock of various secondary gender pharmaceutical supplies. If Yu Mianfeng wanted to secure one, he merely needed to call an attendant.

Of course, he could also choose to do absolutely nothing. He could explicitly ban anyone from delivering a suppressor to Jiang Henggu, leaving the Alpha here to make an absolute fool of himself while he watched the man’s degrading, heat-fueled state with icy detachment. Everyone knew Yu Mianfeng utterly loathed Alphas; his initial interactions with Jiang Henggu had been entirely driven by a desire to degrade him, treating the Alpha like a pet to be ordered around at his whim.

Jiang Henggu felt the emotions he had just forcefully suppressed surge right back up into his chest cavity. He didn’t dare move a single muscle, terrified of exposing his internal state. His breathing turned slightly ragged, his Adam’s apple bobbing frantically as he attempted to speak.

“I do… Are you going to fetch it for me?”

Perhaps to his primitive instincts, the youth standing before him was vastly more effective at pacifying his system than any synthetic suppressor. He desperately craved a tight embrace, or perhaps something even deeper.

“In your dreams.”

The response he received was a shard of freezing mockery.

The innate, malicious playfulness in the Beta’s blood resurfaced. He swept a haughty glance down at Jiang Henggu, his tone perfectly detached, yet the words slipping past his lips read entirely differently. To the Alpha’s ears, it sounded like an explicit form of flirtation.

“Beg me, and I might consider having someone bring you a suppressor.”

Yu Mianfeng had absolutely zero intention of flirting. He simply wanted to see Jiang Henggu lower his head and humiliate himself, considering the man had just executed actions that thoroughly displeased him. He needed to extract his compensation.

Such demands were practically a routine occurrence for Jiang Henggu.

Yu Mianfeng rarely displayed this specific, bullying amusement in front of outsiders, yet he consistently crossed every established boundary when they were alone. It was no wonder the Alpha frequently fell prey to delusional fantasies; these various anomalies had once led him to believe that Yu Mianfeng was deliberately… teasing him.

Then again, the word “teasing” wasn’t entirely accurate. To be more precise, Yu Mianfeng’s attitude toward Jiang Henggu was notoriously hot and cold. If he was in a pleasant mood, he would casually manufacture creative ways to torment him; if he was in an atrocious mood, he would wear a freezing expression and treat him like thin air and the most twisted part was that Jiang Henggu actually found himself deeply enjoying the dynamic.

Jiang Henggu usually felt a deep wave of shame whenever he recalled how easily the youth toyed with him, yet he remained entirely incapable of stopping his brain from veering into those exact fantasies.

At the very beginning, the Alpha had possessed a decent amount of personal pride, making those degrading acts immensely difficult to endure.

Occasionally, on a sudden whim, Yu Mianfeng would demand a physical match. The Beta’s peerless combat capabilities were a universally acknowledged reality at the academy, and Jiang Henggu predictably lost without a shred of suspense.

“Perhaps I ought to put a dog tag on you, engrave my name on it and parade you around the training grounds for a few laps.”

Yu Mianfeng’s tone had been characteristically freezing as he planted his boot firmly over the skull of the defeated Alpha, leaning down as if pondering the logistics.

Initially, Jiang Henggu had utterly loathed it loathed that supreme, lofty downward stare. Yet, why was it that the exact instant those words left Yu Mianfeng’s mouth, his heart had hammered against his ribs like a frantic drum?

Inside that sealed, narrow private training capsule, the Alpha had allowed himself to be fitted with a highly degrading collar, though he had launched a violent physical resistance against any further actions. Yu Mianfeng could toy with him however he pleased behind closed doors; he could even reframe it as a bizarre form of intimacy, but he absolutely could not let outsiders witness it.

Fortunately, Yu Mianfeng seemed to have spoken entirely on a whim. He merely gave the leash a few perfunctory tugs before turning on his heel and exiting the training bay, possessing zero genuine desire to execute any actual degradation.

His sudden departure had left the half-kneeling Alpha completely at a loss.

He had consistently maintained this chaotic, hot-and-cold attitude toward Jiang Henggu, occasionally subjecting the Alpha to a round of sharp mockery and degradation. He truly had no idea whether it was a blessing or a curse to be toyed with so effortlessly in the palm of such a person’s hand.

Whatever temper Jiang Henggu originally possessed had long since been ground down to nothing.

The Beta before him clearly lacked the patience to await his response. After completing a quick check on his firearm’s condition, he turned to depart.

“…I beg you.”

A tightly strained voice echoed from behind him. Those two words slipped from Jiang Henggu’s throat, sounding remarkably parched. No one could truly decipher what he was actually begging for.

Yu Mianfeng hadn’t expected the protagonist to throw his backbone away so easily. Right on cue, a sharp knock echoed from the lounge door.

In a transparent attempt to please him, Jiang Henggu moved to open it, but Yu Mianfeng hoisted a hand to halt him instantly. An Alpha navigating a rut was a highly volatile explosive; if he ran into another Alpha in this state, an all-out brawl was practically guaranteed. He utterly loathed unnecessary complications.

He pulled the door open slightly. The Beta attendant standing in the corridor froze visibly, quickly lowering his head as his eyes drifted toward Yu Mianfeng’s loose cuffs. The moment he registered the red marks; his face filled with absolute terror.

“I-I apologize, Young Master. I heard the sound of something shattering just now, I had no idea you were inside…”

“The chandelier broke.”

“Understood, Should I arrange for someone to clear the debris immediately?”

Yu Mianfeng noticed the attendant casting a panicked glance toward the space behind him, the terror on his face intensifying. He could distinctly feel a scorching; unblinking gaze fixated heavily on his back.

Possessing no intention of breaking his promise, he delivered a perfunctory command to the attendant: “Go fetch an Alpha suppressor injection.”

The attendant offered a hasty acknowledgment, and the door clicked shut once more.

Sensing something amiss, Yu Mianfeng turned his head back around. Jiang Henggu was standing quietly behind him, maintaining a highly specific, subtle distance, his dark eyes fixed tightly on… roughly the area of his back neck.

He utterly loathed that specific look. He instantly reached out, locking his fingers firmly around the man’s throat. Surprisingly, Jiang Henggu offered zero resistance.

The man’s Adam’s apple rolled once against his palm.

Yu Mianfeng snapped his hand back instantly.

“Why didn’t you answer my messages?” Yu Mianfeng demanded icily.

“It wasn’t intentional… My head was splitting from the rut; I couldn’t control my physical strength. The moment I picked up my communicator, I accidentally crushed the casing. I promise I’ll reply within a split-second next time.”

Moments ago, he had been wearing a freezing, hostile expression due to his biological distress; yet right now, he resembled a compliant hound wagging its tail to curry favor. Yu Mianfeng didn’t even want to waste the energy to respond.

A long time after the Beta departed, Jiang Henggu finally lowered his gaze to inspect his own physical situation. Fortunately… he had chosen to wear an exceptionally loose pair of athletic trousers today, which managed to conceal the shift perfectly.

If he had noticed it, I’d probably end up dead in a thoroughly brutal fashion.

Alphas navigating a rut would instinctively leak their pheromones as a primitive method of claiming territory. Yet, during that brief stretch of silent confrontation when Yu Mianfeng had pinned his throat, he had deliberately forced his pheromone scent onto the youth’s skin.

Jiang Henggu freely admitted the sheer madness behind his actions. Leaving his pheromones on the youth’s skin felt like a raw declaration of absolute ownership. Yet, reality dictated that he didn’t possess a shred of right to claim such a title, forced to resort to such vile, covert methods just to leave his scent behind.

Yu Mianfeng was a Beta; he would never detect the scent. Furthermore, this subtle trace of pheromones would only trigger a reaction if someone managed to get exceptionally close to him. The moment a stray breeze swept past, it would scatter into nothingness within minutes.

Given Yu Mianfeng’s freezing personality, he would never permit anyone to breach his personal boundary. The only person permitted to approach him was… that man.

The moment that reality registered, the Alpha’s internal rage threatened to completely obliterate his self-control.

The entire purpose behind his arrival tonight had been to demand an explanation as to why Yu Mianfeng was entering a marriage alliance with Lu Yibo. Even now, Jiang Henggu vividly remembered the utterly loathsome expression plastered across that annoying bastard’s face.

“So you’re the Alpha who’s constantly trailing behind my Mianfeng?”

The universally celebrated, gentle and courteous Lu Yibo had barely lifted his eyelids, his gaze freezing cold. He hadn’t even bothered to ask for his name a display of absolute, silent contempt before delivering a simple announcement: “He is entering an engagement with me.”

Jiang Henggu had never imagined that he would be forced to receive this piece of news from that specific man’s mouth. He had factored in the possibility that Yu Mianfeng simply viewed him as a hound to amuse himself with, a mere pet to break the monotony. Yet, he had never imagined this day would arrive with such terrifying speed.

“I must trouble you to maintain your distance from my fiancé,” Lu Yibo had stated, his tone dripping with mockery. “Show a little self-respect. Stop trying to seduce him.”

Jiang Henggu had burned with an absolute fury. Never in his entire existence had he imagined the word “seduce” would be deployed by someone to describe his actions.

When it had all begun..

At the very beginning, shortly after Jiang Henggu first arrived on the Capital Planet, he had been subjected to a strict, repetitive briefing outlining the absolute taboos of the aristocratic circles. Keep your head down, do your job, and avoid trouble.

Among those strict guidelines, one specific rule had been emphasized above all else.

“Do not offend the Yu family. Under no circumstances are you to cross the young master who stands as the heir to the Yu clan.”

The individual delivering the warning hadn’t even bothered to show him a photograph, merely offering a vague, ambiguous statement: “The moment you see him, you’ll understand.”

Jiang Henggu had drilled the instruction deep into his memory. He and Yu Mianfeng were like mud on the riverbank and the moon in the heavens; by all accounts, their paths should have never converged.

Jiang Henggu had been casually dumped into an academy by his family simply to secure a prestigious credentials wrapper. No one had anticipated that his innate aptitude for military operations would prove to be entirely peerless, earning him a direct acceleration tracking program straight into the Capital Academy.

That was where he witnessed Yu Mianfeng for the very first time.

A thoroughly domineering, unapproachable young master possessing a face so devastatingly stunning that ordinary civilians couldn’t even dare to dream of approaching him. Jiang Henggu had watched with his own two eyes as Yu Mianfeng slammed a massive bouquet of roses delivered by an elite suitor straight into the sender’s face.

The suitor was undoubtedly a high-ranking noble with immense institutional leverage, yet even as the impact knocked his glasses askew, the smile remained firmly plastered across his face. That moment had granted him a profound understanding of the young master’s atrocious temper.

Later on, inside the lecture halls and across the academy training facilities, Jiang Henggu found himself running into Yu Mianfeng with immense frequency. Whenever their frames brushed past one another in the corridors, he kept his eyes locked firmly ahead, yet he remained entirely incapable of stopping himself from tracking the youth’s silhouette the moment he walked away.

Betas were a frequent fixture in the private fantasies of Alphas.

Does Yu Mianfeng register exactly how many people harbor an absolute obsession for him? He looked precisely like the type who would deliver a freezing scolding to any Alpha who dared approach… or perhaps he would simply ignore them entirely, chain them securely to the edge of a bedframe, and casually depart the residence on his own business.

These rogue thoughts had flashed across Jiang Henggu’s consciousness, only to be hastily buried deep in his mind. One couldn’t survive amidst these predatory aristocrats relying entirely on delusional fantasies. He consciously restricted himself from veering into those lines of thought, commanding his mind to banish that specific silhouette from his nightly dreams.

On the day Yu Mianfeng had suddenly blocked his path, Jiang Henggu had almost assumed he was trapped inside one of his recurrent nightly fantasies. He tightened his fist, the sharp throb of pain in his palm confirming that reality was unfolding. Even as he held his breath, he remained entirely incapable of lowering his racing heart rate.

Jiang Henggu had remained perfectly silent, waiting for Yu Mianfeng to initiate the dialogue, creating an incredibly tense, quiet scene to onlookers.

The Beta had first subjected him to a thorough, up-and-down visual evaluation. When his eyes finally lifted to lock onto his face, his expression turned remarkably displeased.

“Are you Jiang Henggu?”

“…I am.”

“Accompany me to the training grounds immediately. We’re going to brawl.”

“May I ask why?” Jiang Henggu had been thoroughly bewildered, trying to read the expressions flickering across the youth’s face. Prior to this interaction, they shouldn’t have shared a single shred of acquaintance, right? Or rather, it was a purely one-sided acquaintance on his part.

“Follow me.”

The instant the words left his mouth, the youth lost the remainder of his patience, turning on his heel to depart. Jiang Henggu followed closely behind, matching his strides seamlessly, leaving the remaining onlookers staring at each other in absolute shock.

That afternoon, the crowd swarming the academy’s public training grounds had been exceptionally massive.

Yu Mianfeng’s absolute loathing for Alphas was a universally acknowledged reality, yet his standard policy was one of supreme, arrogant dismissal. This represented the absolute first time he had openly instigated a conflict with an individual, leaving everyone thoroughly stunned.

Right before this inexplicable match launched, Yu Mianfeng had suddenly delivered a condition.

“A match like this requires a wager.”

“…What is it that you want?”

“I happen to be short of a pet.”

An absolute hush descended over the facility; the crowds packed into the viewing galleries throwing down expressions of pure shock. Jiang Henggu had absolutely zero idea how he had managed to offend him. It was a demand that amounted to pure, unadulterated public humiliation. Yu Mianfeng had delivered those words in front of a massive audience without a shred of discretion.

At that exact juncture, Jiang Henggu was completely stripped of any capacity to reject the challenge; doing so would ensure that every single peer would spend the remainder of his academic career mocking him behind his back. He had sacrificed far too much over the years to claw his way into this position, and he refused to let it all collapse into ruin over a single moment of cowardice.

Jiang Henggu inhaled a sharp breath. “And what happens if you lose?”

Hearing the question, Yu Mianfeng had turned back to offer him a careless glance, his indifferent eyes radiating an absolute certainty that crushing the Alpha before him would be an effortless endeavor: “Then you can do whatever you want with me.”

The massive arena turned so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop against the floorboards. Every single pair of eyes was pinned entirely on him.

To deliver a line like that with such a cold, detached face. It contained zero romantic warmth, yet it forced one’s imagination to spiral out of control.

The Beta had completely ignored those burning stares, climbing into his mecha cockpit without a single backward glance.

Driven by an abrupt surge of competitive fire, Jiang Henggu stopped holding back his capabilities. The duel had launched with an intense, back-and-forth momentum, keeping every spectator’s nerves wound incredibly tight. Some desperately prayed for his downfall, while others rooted for his success.

Yet, the ultimate reality was a brutal, crushing defeat for Jiang Henggu.

The final verdict flashed across the monitors, leaving two massive mechas standing motionless on the field. Jiang Henggu had leaped down from his cockpit with a highly complex expression, only to see the young youth hook a finger toward him in a casual summons. He seemed entirely devoid of any self-awareness regarding the reality that he was currently the absolute epicenter of public attention.

“You look as pathetic as a beaten dog.” His tone had been perfectly flat, as if merely stating an objective reality.

Jiang Henggu had panted heavily, forcing his internal systems to stabilize, remaining perfectly silent. Should I count this as a blessing, or absolute damnation? His mind had gone completely blank, entirely incapable of structured thought as he asked a question driven purely by raw instinct: “What is it that you truly want from me?”

“Act as my dog.” Yu Mianfeng’s tone had carried an unmistakable wave of impatience.

Jiang Henggu couldn’t even remember what his exact response had been, nor what expression had been plastered across his face, though it had undoubtedly been one of intense resistance. After all, with so many eyes tracking their every movement, a phrase like that would read as pure flirtation behind closed doors; but delivered in a public arena, it amounted to raw, unmitigated humiliation.

He had zero certainty as to whether Yu Mianfeng had actually developed a genuine interest in him. If it were entirely in private, perhaps I would have been more than willing?

The consequences of rejecting Yu Mianfeng were demonstrably unpleasant.

“Remember to honor our wager. I’ll come tracking you down later.” The youth had turned and departed the facility before Jiang Henggu could even formulate a proper response.

Ultimately, Jiang Henggu had submitted to the arrangement. His clan had also exerted considerable pressure behind the scenes; after all, merely trailing behind the Yu family’s shadow yielded an immense array of institutional advantages.

Yet, as time went on, Jiang Henggu gradually realized that Yu Mianfeng possessed absolutely zero desire to cross any professional boundaries with him. He merely summoned him occasionally to execute mundane errands, calling him to his side simply to deliver phrases guaranteed to make an Alpha’s blood boil with rage… and things of that nature.

It looked as though Yu Mianfeng possessed absolutely zero interest in Alphas. Furthermore, he paid very little attention to other Betas or Omegas. No one was permitted to breach Yu Mianfeng’s personal boundary—with the sole exception of Jiang Henggu.

The dynamic linking them was profoundly bizarre. Jiang Henggu remained entirely incapable of deciphering Yu Mianfeng’s internal motivations; a youth so freezing and detached, yet he consistently displayed an immense wave of enthusiasm whenever he chose to torment him. It had almost led him to believe that he represented a highly specific exception in the youth’s eyes.

After all, at the very beginning, Yu Mianfeng had been the one to actively seek him out.

Until today, when he was abruptly informed that Yu Mianfeng was entering a formal engagement.

He possessed absolutely zero desire to become a homewrecker.

The mandatory task was officially complete, yet as one of the primary figures anchoring this banquet, Yu Mianfeng couldn’t simply vanish from the venue ahead of schedule. Rumors were far too easy to manufacture in these elite circles. If he departed ahead of schedule today, headlines declaring “Young Master Yu Thoroughly Displeased with His New Fiancé” would undoubtedly flood the networks by tomorrow morning. Such an outcome would be highly detrimental to the smooth progression of the plot, and there was no shortage of malicious individuals who would gladly fabricate such gossip.

【You truly do display an immense amount of favoritism toward Lu Yibo. Don’t tell me you’ve actually gone and fallen for him? 】 The voice inside his mind echoed with its trademark passive-aggressiveness.

「What does any of this have to do with him? Yu Mianfeng countered, thoroughly baffled.

【Tsk. 】 The entity chose to evade the topic entirely.

Yu Mianfeng simply concluded that it was throwing another one of its routine tantrums.

His mood was by no means pleasant, considering he had just wrapped up a physical altercation with the Protagonist Gong. Or rather, a scenario where he had single-mindedly delivered a physical beating to the Protagonist Gong?

Yu Mianfeng instinctively steered his strides toward a secluded terrace tucked away from the main hall, intending to locate a quiet corner to hide for a while, praying that no one would emerge to disturb his peace.

He hadn’t anticipated that the moment he pulled back the heavy velvet curtains, he would find someone already occupying the space.

The man appeared to have retreated to this specific corner for the exact same purpose seeking a moment of quiet isolation. A half-burned cigarette was tucked securely between his right fingers as he leaned against the stone balustrade with an air of profound exhaustion, his gaze drifting lazily over the sprawling landscape outside.

His outer jacket was a meticulously tailored military uniform; while his specific insignia weren’t immediately visible, the sheer quality and texture of the fabric clearly denoted a high-ranking official. Even though Yu Mianfeng was biologically incapable of detecting pheromones, his senses could distinctly register that heavy, aggressive aura unique to Alphas who had occupied positions of absolute authority for a very long time.

Yu Mianfeng had no recollection of ever encountering this individual; he rarely squandered his attention on absolute strangers.

The slight rustle of the curtains parting broke the silence, prompting Yuan Hechu to turn his head. His eyes locked onto the central figure of tonight’s banquet. The youth’s attire was no longer nearly as pristine as it had been while standing on the main stage, and his styled hair looked slightly disheveled. Furthermore, an incredibly faint trace of Alpha pheromones was drifting from the Beta’s back neck.

Entering an engagement with an Omega, yet maintaining a messy entanglement with an Alpha behind closed doors.

Registering that Yu Mianfeng possessed absolutely zero desire to launch a conversation, Yuan Hechu had no intention of forcing an interaction either, offering a polite, subtle nod of acknowledgment. He knew with absolute certainty that the youth likely harbored zero memory of his existence.

The terrace wasn’t particularly spacious. The cigarette nestled between Yuan Hechu’s fingers continued to burn silently, the evening breeze catching the smoke and causing it to drift through the space.

Detecting the scent of tobacco, Yu Mianfeng’s brow drew together slightly, though he refrained from voicing an objection. Given his institutional backing, he absolutely possessed the raw leverage required to command anyone to extinguish their smoking materials on the spot. The Yu family was a monolithic entity whose absolute power rivaled the military faction in every measurable metric, but right now, he simply lacked the energy to act domineering.

His internal state was thoroughly miserable; the mere memory of that skin-to-skin contact from moments ago left his system feeling slightly dizzy, accompanied by a wave of intense, nauseating disgust. Yu Mianfeng’s expression looked distinctly drained.

As a peak-tier Alpha, Yuan Hechu’s sensory perceptions were remarkably acute; he registered Yu Mianfeng’s distaste for the tobacco smoke almost instantly. His movements halted for a fraction of a second before he smoothly extinguished the cigarette.

The youth tracked along the balustrade step by step until he reached the far corner, displaying an absolute absence of any desire to communicate. There was zero need to explicitly spy on him; the innate sharpness of an Alpha allowed Yuan Hechu to easily observe the youth through his peripheral vision. Yu Mianfeng had pressed his forehead directly against the cool stone railing, his hair slightly messy, his pale neck exposed slightly in the gloom.

Yuan Hechu smoothly retracted his gaze.

That offensive Alpha pheromone clinging to the Beta’s frame asserted its presence in the air with immense sharpness, faint yet distinct. Yuan Hechu cataloged the various rumors he had encountered regarding the youth; countless individuals harbored an absolute obsession for Yu Mianfeng, with no shortage of Alphas among them. Even though his tyrannical reputation was universally acknowledged, suitors consistently threw themselves at him in overlapping waves.

Amidst such an immense sea of obsessed admirers, a few completely unhinged entities were bound to materialize; Yuan Hechu had personally processed an untold number of such volatile cases throughout his career.

By all accounts, he shouldn’t be sticking his nose into the private business of the Yu family, nor did he possess a personality prone to unnecessary meddling. Furthermore, if his evaluation proved to be an error, it would only yield unfavorable political complications for himself. Yet, his instincts refused to accept the reality that Yu Mianfeng was the type of individual who would carelessly permit a romantic partner to leave pheromones on his skin.

(Leaving pheromones behind) was a silent, vile method of asserting absolute ownership utilized among Alphas. Sometimes, Yuan Hechu couldn’t help but wonder if the legislation prohibiting Omegas from exposing their back necks in public spaces was merely a structural confirmation of an Alpha’s absolute lack of self-control. An inability to master one’s primitive desires represented a profound failure on the part of the Alpha. A truly disciplined Alpha should be entirely incapable of forcing their pheromones onto a Beta’s body.

Yu Mianfeng had caught enough of the cool evening air to lower his internal temperature. Having successfully stabilized his system, he crouched down in the corner to fiddle with his communicator, resembling a quiet mushroom sprouting along the stone masonry.

Before Yuan Hechu could even formulate a proper method to initiate an inquiry without triggering the youth’s intense aversion, his senses detected footsteps tracking directly toward the terrace with absolute precision.

A moment later, the velvet curtains were hoisted open, and Yuan Hechu found himself locking eyes with Yu Mianfeng’s father, Yu Feng.

The two men one representing the entrenched aristocracy, the other anchoring the absolute authority of the military faction both harbored a mutual desire to ease the political friction between their respective institutions. Given the escalating frequency of border conflicts recently, humanity absolutely couldn’t afford internal warfare; that was a reality universally acknowledged by every leadership tier.

The two exchanged a polite greeting. Huddled in his corner, Yu Mianfeng’s fingers froze against his screen the moment their voices registered. He heard his father address the stranger as “Marshal.”

Given that there were only three individuals occupying the terrace, exactly who that “Marshal” referred to was blindingly obvious. Yu Mianfeng swept a quick glance across, his gaze locking instantly onto the black leather glove encasing the man’s left hand.

The signature trademark of the Grand Marshal.

Practically no one had ever witnessed him stripping that glove away when Yu Mianfeng had analyzed him moments ago, his left hand had been resting against the balustrade, concealed behind his torso.

They absolutely shouldn’t be interacting at this specific juncture.

According to the original plotline, the domineering villain who continuously harassed the Protagonist Shou was fated to be thoroughly broken by a highly righteous, immensely powerful male lead character. The secondary male lead was none other than the Federation’s Grand Marshal, Yuan Hechu a man who commanded massive military forces and held high aristocratic lineage, yet dedicated his career to advancing equal rights movements for the civilian population.

Yu Mianfeng’s first official interaction with Yuan Hechu was supposed to occur much later in the timeline. The righteous commander was supposed to intervene to halt the Beta’s tyrannical attempts to force the Protagonist Shou into submission after discovering the engagement was entirely coerced, forcefully separating the two and earning himself the villain’s absolute, undying hatred. The villain’s pathetic attempts to sabotage the Marshal yielded absolutely zero results, and the ultimate decline of the Yu family was framed as an inevitable casualty of the changing eras. Ultimately, the villain was fated to be locked away inside a pitch-black, subterranean cell by this exact secondary lead.

That was the sequence the system had drilled into Yu Mianfeng’s mind.

Lowering his gaze, Yu Mianfeng felt his internal thoughts turn slightly chaotic. The events unfolding tonight have already generated a clear divergence from the original script. Will this trigger a massive butterfly effect across the timeline? …I’ll have to perform a thorough consultation once the system concludes its hibernation cycle.

Possessing zero desire to integrate himself into their dialogue, Yu Mianfeng remained perfectly quiet, continuing to play the role of an inconspicuous mushroom in his dark corner.

Naturally, Yu Feng had detected his child’s presence the exact instant he stepped onto the terrace. Seeing that the boy possessed zero inclination to engage in political networking, he refrained from forcing the issue, offering nothing more than a deeply indulgent smile. Before Yu Mianfeng, Yu Feng was a fiercely devoted, protective father; yet before the rest of the universe, the man was a textbook smiling tiger. Launching a political dialogue with him carried an immense amount of institutional pressure, requiring one to meticulously evaluate every single syllable before letting it leave their mouth.

“…In any event, the Yu family will provide the requested funding for the military expansion procurement, but our involvement terminates at that explicit boundary, Marshal. You understand better than anyone how many factions are currently desperate to muddy these waters.”

“Understood. A pleasure doing business with you.”

Beyond that specific transaction, the two shared very little common ground an elder financial tycoon and a young, meteoric military commander, a contrast that frequently left onlookers deeply reflective. The two exchanged standard, formal farewells.

Throughout the duration of the dialogue, Yuan Hechu refrained from mentioning the reality that the man’s son was currently coated in Alpha pheromones. He had absolutely zero desire to trigger an emergency capital murder investigation in the middle of the night. Furthermore, Yu Feng was a Beta; much like Yu Mianfeng, he was biologically incapable of detecting the scent.

In this exact moment, that reality transformed into a silent, mutual secret linking Yuan Hechu and Yu Mianfeng concealing the truth directly in front of the youth’s own father.

Yuan Hechu tracked the little black mushroom huddled in the corner with his gaze for a long moment before taking a decisive stride forward. As he closed the distance, the sharp, pungent mint scent of that Alpha pheromone became increasingly suffocating to his senses.

Yu Mianfeng’s attention was pinned entirely to his MOBA match when the sound of approaching footsteps registered beside his ear. Yuan Hechu halted a short distance away, his shadow falling directly over the tips of Yu Mianfeng’s shoes.

Yu Mianfeng analyzed the dark silhouette through his peripheral vision. The atmosphere turned completely static for a fleeting second.

The youth lifted his eyes, locking his gaze directly with Yuan Hechu. Then, he watched with his own two eyes as this peak military commander dropped down into a low squat right before him.

This highly casual, intimate method of communication resembling an interaction between peers of the exact same age caused an incredibly complex expression to flit across Yu Mianfeng’s face. Yuan Hechu was a full decade older than him and wielded absolute institutional control over the military apparatus; there was absolutely no structural requirement for him to adopt such a posture.

Yu Mianfeng lowered his head once more, displaying an absolute absence of any desire to launch a conversation, quietly waiting for the man to offer the initial subject. Across his screen, the digital avatar he commanded executed a final, brutal sweep of the battlefield, swiftly demolishing the enemy nexus. The ‘Victory’ graphic flashed across the glass.

Yuan Hechu adjusted the leather of his glove slightly before finally speaking: “You are remarkably intelligent. You possess an immense talent for navigating these systems both across your academic records and your digital matches.”

Yu Mianfeng’s academic performance was perfectly mirrored by his gaming proficiency, both tracking at a level of excellence that left ordinary peers entirely incapable of keeping pace.

Yu Mianfeng powered down his screen, responding flatly: “My thanks for the compliment.”

Despite the verbal acknowledgment, Yuan Hechu could detect zero actual emotion leaking onto the youth’s face.

Yu Mianfeng suddenly tilted his chin upward to lock eyes with him, a movement that forced Yuan Hechu’s gaze away from the boy’s facial expressions. He noticed those soft, dark strands of hair brushing against his neck, a contrast that felt remarkably striking in the gloom. The man politely retracted his eyes.

The two adjusted into a more comfortable stance, locked in an absolute, unspoken silence. Yuan Hechu weighed the logistics of how to introduce the topic without triggering an intense wave of revulsion from Yu Mianfeng.

Ultimately, Yu Mianfeng broke the silence first, inquiring flatly: “What is it that the Marshal wishes to say to me?”

Yuan Hechu offered no immediate verbal reply. His eyes drifted down, locking onto the red marks peeking out from beneath Yu Mianfeng’s intentionally extended cuffs. Decades of brutal combat experience allowed him to diagnose the injury instantly those specific finger marks and swelling only materialized when an individual’s wrists were forcefully bound while they launched a violent physical resistance.

Yet, Yu Mianfeng treated the marks with absolute, total indifference.

He had always assumed Yu Mianfeng was the type of individual who harbored an absolute, visceral revulsion toward any physical closeness, matching his freezing exterior perfectly. Evaluating the logistics of that legendary shooting case from his youth, if Yu Mianfeng had genuinely felt violated by an interaction, the Yu family estate should have already transformed into a fresh murder scene tonight. Betas of his caliber were by no means prone to showing mercy.

Perhaps turning around and departing is the absolute best solution right now. I shouldn’t be entangling myself in the messy friction of these younger generations. Yu Mianfeng was still remarkably young. A highly coveted, elite Beta could easily maintain an immense array of lovers, leaving suitors to constantly claw at each other’s throats out of sheer jealousy. Perhaps that pheromone scent was simply a mutually accepted method of asserting ownership between them?

Yet, Yuan Hechu’s internal logic refused to accept the reality that Yu Mianfeng would willingly tolerate such a dynamic. He decided to lay his cards completely on the table.

“An Alpha has forced their pheromones onto your person,” he stated with absolute clarity. “Have you been subjected to an assault? Do you require my intervention?”