After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 49

Once again, she lay on the floor of the training room, utterly exhausted.

Shu Youzhan stared blankly at the ceiling. It felt as though the only difference from her previous sparring sessions with Zhao Qinglan was the location; the place witnessing her collapse had shifted from the Zhao family’s training room to the Shu family’s.

That was all.

Because she had managed to turn the tide and gain a temporary upper hand during their first match by taking advantage of Zhao Qinglan’s momentary soft-heartedness, Zhao Qinglan hadn’t given her another opening in the subsequent sessions. Consequently, Shu Youzhan’s body was now covered in bruises.

These were the results of Zhao Qinglan being unable to fully restrain her strength, or the consequences of Shu Youzhan’s own movements deforming and her attacks failing.

A face entered her field of vision.

Zhao Qinglan stood beside her, looking down. As if she knew the exact limits of the girl’s physical endurance, she could tell with a single glance whether Shu Youzhan was truly fatigued or merely slacking off. She didn’t urge her to get up immediately; instead, she asked abruptly:

“How have you been feeling… these past few days?”

Shu Youzhan’s expression remained somewhat dazed. All her strength was being funneled into breathing, trying to slow her racing heart and the rapid flow of blood. Her chest heaved rhythmically. After a long while, her lips moved, but no sound came out. She mouthed a single word:

“Not.”

Zhao Qinglan raised an eyebrow.

The person lying on the floor panted for a while longer before speaking intermittently. “Not… not enough… I, I’ve seen their physical test videos. The Alphas’ st-strength is too great…”

Every time she spoke, her chest sounded like a bellows, wheezing and huffing. Just that one sentence cost Shu Youzhan too much energy. Fearing she might choke, Zhao Qinglan reached out and pulled her up from the floor, letting the girl lean her entire weight against her while reminding her to focus on the rhythm of her breathing.

Shu Youzhan waved a hand slightly, her trembling fingertips clutching Zhao Qinglan’s shoulder, yet she insisted on finishing her thought: “Once, once hit, with an Omega’s constitution… it’s abs-absolutely impossible to continue…”

“I have to be fast… fast enough.”

Zhao Qinglan fell silent for a moment. She thought of the male Alphas she had seen in the military—not only tall and sturdy but with thick, powerful muscles. Just a normal amount of training could bring them to that terrifying level. In a combat drill during a physical test, if Shu Youzhan, who lacked any pheromone advantage, were to be closed in upon by them, the consequences would be fatal.

Fortunately—

“Your current speed, including the close-quarters combat techniques you’ve mastered, is enough to evade most power-based collisions and play to your strengths,” she answered slowly in a soothing tone.

Shu Youzhan nodded, accepting this evaluation. But when she looked up again, her expression carried a strange kind of determination. Her deep brown eyes were clear, faithfully reflecting Zhao Qinglan’s image.

“Yes, but that’s under the condition that you haven’t used your pheromones.”

“Actually, I’m quite lucky. Most Alphas in daily life don’t emphasize close combat skills because of the innate advantage of pheromone suppression, unlike our background. And Betas aren’t much more prominent than Omegas in terms of physical constitution…”

“In other words, as long as I can maintain my current close combat capabilities under your pheromone suppression, I should be able to handle about ninety percent of my opponents when the physical test comes, right?”

She was very seriously wanting to experience Zhao Qinglan’s completely unrestrained pheromone suppression.

However, the person who heard these words pursed her lips. Her eyes darkened. Before the person in her arms could see the change, Zhao Qinglan’s eyelids closed. She took a deep breath, looked down, and called out softly:

“Youyou.”

She said: “An Alpha’s pheromones don’t just exist to suppress Omegas. There is one more important point… when the pheromone concentration is high enough, it will directly force an Omega into their heat cycle.”

To put it bluntly.

Aside from evolving to intimidate powerful beasts in the universe, the other most significant function of Alpha pheromones was to coerce Omegas for the purpose of procreation.

Zhao Qinglan emphasized the word “force,” intending to warn Shu Youzhan not to casually make such a dangerous suggestion.

Especially since their pheromones had mingled before…

Shu Youzhan’s body would instinctively interpret her pheromones as a desire for intimacy. Under the same pheromone concentration, Shu Youzhan might be able to resist the pressure of other Alphas, but with Zhao Qinglan, she might involuntarily become flushed and weak in the knees. At that point, let alone training, she might not even be able to control her own pheromones from leaking out wildly, entering a state of heat before she reached adulthood.

Hearing her words, the girl curled her lips and replied with a smile: “I know. I’ve thought of two ways.”

If it weren’t for the Imperial Military Academy’s requirement that students have no scars on their bodies, Shu Youzhan would have already undergone a gland removal surgery to cut off the source of these pheromones that made her subservient to others.

Under Zhao Qinglan’s gaze.

Shu Youzhan began to chatter away: “First, as long as I inject inhibitors in advance, an Omega’s glands will lose the perception of Alpha pheromones for a short time. In this situation, can I train my resistance to Alpha pheromones?”

“But the side effects of this are quite large. Inhibitors will gradually lose their effectiveness on me. If I encounter some special situation in the future, I’ll basically be finished.”

Zhao Qinglan thought of her neck being covered in needle marks and felt terrified by the suggestion. She pulled the corners of her mouth into a cold sneer:

“So you know?”

Shu Youzhan rubbed her nose and started on the second proposal: “The second way is to find a very strong pheromone to mark me. In this case, I can continuously challenge other Alpha pheromones. While marked, an Omega won’t be forced into heat by other Alphas.”

“The only side effect is…”

“I will become more and more dependent on the pheromones that marked me. I’ll become addicted, and I’ll lose all resistance to that specific pheromone.”

As she said this, she stared straight at Zhao Qinglan, as if she had already determined something.

Zhao Qinglan was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to respond.

In fact, she had thought of the second method herself, but she had never intended to mention it. She felt that in the face of Shu Youzhan’s persistence and sincerity, such a suggestion would be an insult to the girl’s youthful passion.

Now, hearing Shu Youzhan bring it up herself, she felt a strange sense of congestion spreading from her heart.

In that moment.

She strongly wished that she was the one who had differentiated into an Omega.

If that were the case, these grievances and pains wouldn’t have to be borne by her beloved.

Zhao Qinglan’s throat moved, and she licked her somewhat dry lower lip. For the first time, she sounded unsteady as she spoke: “If you don’t want to… perhaps, wait a little longer.”

“The fourth group of the Sixth Army is researching a drug that can give Omegas resistance to Alpha pheromones. After the research is successful, you won’t have to choose option one or option two.”

Her voice was low and hoarse, rarely lacking in confidence.

Shu Youzhan knew her well and immediately guessed the context: “New drug research… it takes a long cycle. Has it entered the clinical stage yet? Looking at you, it probably hasn’t. Even if it’s in clinical trials now, it would take at least a year or two before it can be put into use…”

Zhao Qinglan pursed her lips, unable to answer.

Shu Youzhan laughed. She raised her arms, wrapped them around Zhao Qinglan’s neck, stood on her tiptoes slightly, and kissed her chin. “Why are you making that face?”

“It’s one thing for others not to understand you,” she whispered, “but why don’t you believe in yourself?”

“I know what kind of person you are. Even if you like me, you’ve never thought of using the advantage of your differentiation or using despicable means to achieve your goals. You have always respected me.”

“You are the person I acknowledge. The fact that you are in my future life makes me full of anticipation for the coming decades. If I must lose to someone in this life, I only hope that person is you.”

“Becoming dependent on your pheromones won’t make me afraid. Instead, it gives me a strange sense of security.”

Shu Youzhan tilted her head slightly, revealing her slender neck. It was currently covered in a thin layer of sweat, shimmering. The lines of her neck were distinct, stretching all the way to her collarbone. The faint scent of water lilies slowly drifted into the air with every pulse of her blood.

The corners of her eyes tilted up, as if filled with a silken charm. She asked Zhao Qinglan with a beaming smile:

“Well?”

“Are you unwilling?”