Forced Marking of an S-Class Alpha - Chapter 3

After the typhoon passed, the Kowloon Walled City looked like the mangled remains of a beast’s meal.

It was an appendix abandoned by God. A tangled web of electrical wires, like moldy veins, wrapped around the crumbling tenement buildings, choking out the already murky sky.

A black Maybach S680 sliced silently through the heavy rain and came to a steady halt before a graffiti-covered iron gate.

“Young Master Shen, we’ve arrived. This area is filthy. How about I carry you…” The bodyguard in the driver’s seat spoke with a tense voice. He was about to open the door and hold an umbrella when a voice from the backseat stopped him.

“No need,” Shen Yanzhou said softly.

“Someone’s waiting.”

Deep in the shadows of the alley, a man saw the car lights go out. He crushed his cigarette butt and walked over. This was the “information broker” Shen Yanzhou was waiting for: Jiang Xu.

He was the most troublesome broker in Hong Kong’s underworld, a notorious Class A Alpha who operated in the gray area between law and crime.

His face was deceptively handsome, with peach-blossom eyes, thin lips, and a beauty mark at the corner of his eye. He looked like a romantic rogue from an old Hong Kong movie, the kind of man who would trade his empire for a beautiful woman. But his aggressive tequila pheromones silently warned everyone within a hundred meters:

This was a viper that wouldn’t just bite you, but would smile as it crushed your bones.

Though they had met before, Jiang Xu couldn’t help but marvel at Shen Yanzhou’s ethereal beauty every time he saw him. Standing in the filthy, sewage-strewn alley in a black silk shirt, Shen Yanzhou looked like a white rose blooming in the dead of night.

“Young Master Shen,” Jiang Xu said, stopping so close it was almost an insult.

As a top-tier Alpha, Jiang Xu knew exactly how to use his advantages. His intense, overpowering tequila pheromones wrapped around Shen Yanzhou like invisible tentacles, greedily searching for even the slightest crack of arousal or fear in the “scentless” Omega.

“You’re right on time. Not a minute late,” Jiang Xu said with a rogue’s grin. “With rain like this, I thought you’d make a lonely man like me wait a little longer.”

“Jiang Xu.” Shen Yanzhou looked up slightly. “Your choice of venues always has such… ‘unique’ taste.”

“You wound me.” Jiang Xu spread his arms dramatically, a playful smile on his lips. “Legitimate business is done in Central’s office towers. Only deals involving lives and desires deserve the sewers of the Kowloon Walled City.”

“Lead the way.”

“After you, my generous benefactor.” Jiang Xu stepped back and pushed open a hidden door disguised as an old electrical meter. He then performed an exaggeratedly perfect British gentleman’s bow, like a demonic butler guarding the gates of hell.

“Welcome… to the Devil’s Backyard.”

The elevator was an unmarked industrial freight lift.

The walls were covered in mottled rust and dried, brown stains. The air was thick and stale. With the dull grinding of gears, the elevator car began to plunge rapidly downward.

In the cramped space, the scent of tequila on Jiang Xu grew stronger. He leaned against the wall and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He tapped one out, placed it between his lips, and was about to light it when he seemed to remember something. He held the lighter out to Shen Yanzhou instead.

“Want one? This is the good stuff. It’ll make you forget all your troubles.”

Shen Yanzhou turned his head away in disgust. “Get that away from me. Smoking in an enclosed space? Did a dog eat your manners?”

“Tsk, Young Master Shen is as difficult to please as ever.” Jiang Xu didn’t seem bothered. He smiled and tucked the cigarette behind his ear, his gaze turning meaningful. “This place was dug fifty meters underground. We spent a fortune to avoid the police radar.”

“Who built it?” Shen Yanzhou asked casually, watching the red floor numbers on the display screen tick down.

“You’ve been in Hong Kong for so many years, Young Master Shen. Surely you can guess.”

Jiang Xu pointed to the floor beneath them. Almost all the real estate, suppressants, and pharmaceutical plants in Hong Kong belong to one family. This place might be run by a few puppet gangs, like the Azure Dragon Gang or the Hongmen, but seventy percent of their monthly revenue goes into the same offshore account.”

Shen Yanzhou’s eyes flickered. “The Fu family?”

“Yes, sir,” Jiang Xu replied with a snap of his fingers. He leaned forward, his presence suddenly overwhelming as he loomed over Shen Yanzhou. “The Fu family is ruthless. They even allow this underground auction house to exist. They call it a ‘trash can’ for bored elites to unleash their animal instincts, so they don’t go causing trouble and dirtying their precious Hong Kong.”

A cold, mocking smile touched Shen Yanzhou’s lips.

That family again.

He was about to be “married” into the Fu family for his own clan’s benefit. And yet here he was, in a black market they sanctioned, looking for a tool to cuckold his future fiancé.

The absurdity of his fate was truly exquisite.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a massive, circular underground arena.

The twenty-meter-high ceiling featured a lavish crystal chandelier that lit the entire space like daylight.

The air was thick with a complex blend of scents: expensive Cuban cigars, the cloying sweetness of high-end perfumes, the sharp sting of evaporating alcohol, and beneath it all, the metallic tang of blood, sweat, and semen, deliberately masked by fragrance.

Jiang Xu picked up an elegant black feathered mask from a waiter’s tray and held it out to Shen Yanzhou. “You know the rules. No one shows their real face here. It’s for the protection of important figures like you.”

Shen Yanzhou took the mask and tied it securely behind his head.

The pure black mask concealed his naturally cold and aloof face, leaving only his silver eyes and pale, cherry-blossom lips visible.

Far from hiding his beauty, the “half-hidden” effect only added a sense of mystery. He now exuded an aura of extreme restraint, a captivating and otherworldly allure that was even more intoxicating.

Jiang Xu watched him, his Adam’s apple bobbing sharply. If not for the commission, if not for his fear of the Shen family and the powerful figure behind them, he would have pinned Shen Yanzhou against the wall right then and there. He wanted to tear through that elegant facade and see if the blood underneath ran hot or cold.

“This way, please,” Jiang Xu said, his voice now a little hoarse.

After following him up to the second-floor VIP box, Shen Yanzhou didn’t sit down immediately. Instead, he walked to the glass window, swirling a glass of ice water he hadn’t yet sipped. His cold gaze swept over the circular seating area below.

The area was filled with men and women wearing all kinds of masks.

“Do you see the one in the pig mask?” Shen Yanzhou asked, his long finger pointing lightly to the lower left. His tone was as if he were looking at something filthy.

“I see him. Interested?”

“That’s Director Li from the City Construction Bureau,” Shen Yanzhou said coldly. “The turquoise ring on his left ring finger was bought by his wife at Sotheby’s last month. The news heavily reported it as their twentieth wedding anniversary gift. Heh, look at the Beta boy he’s clutching now. He must be barely an adult. What are those hands, the ones used to sign official documents, doing right now?”

Jiang Xu clicked his tongue twice. “That old bastard has been into this for years. He even got someone killed last time. They say the Hongmen helped him cover it up.”

“And over there.” Shen Yanzhou’s gaze shifted to another spot. A woman wearing a peacock feather mask sat there, holding a leather whip. She was staring excitedly at the stage, her body trembling uncontrollably.

“Zhao Wan’er, the heiress of the Zhao Group. She publicly claims to be an ‘Omega Rights Activist’ and weeps before the media about Alpha atrocities. But behind closed doors, she loves torturing disobedient Alpha servants. Look at her. She’s probably soaked through already.”

Shen Yanzhou withdrew his gaze and set the glass of ice water on the table.

“Disgusting.”

“I never expected to run into them in a place like this, all gathered together and sniffing each other’s asses.”

“Don’t be such a killjoy, Young Master Shen.” Jiang Xu leaned back on the sofa, crossing his legs. His eyes burned as they traced the line of Shen Yanzhou’s pale jaw. “The people are trash, but the goods are top-tier. Tonight, we have a ‘special’ you won’t believe. I almost lost my life just to pull the strings and get us in.”

Just then, the house lights plunged into darkness, leaving only a single spotlight on the center of the stage.

A host in a tuxedo and exaggerated clown makeup leaped out. His voice was shrill and manic. “Distinguished guests! Hungry souls! Welcome to tonight’s main event: the Alpha Hunting Ground!”

“Do you want the strongest bodyguard? The most durable bed partner? Want to improve your family’s weak genes? We have everything here! In this place, money is the only law!”

“Lot number one! B-rank Alpha, body fat 8%, endurance test three hours…”

A young Alpha, his body covered in essential oils and boasting exaggerated muscles, was pushed onto the stage. He had clearly been drugged, his eyes glazed over. Chained by the neck, he writhed like a dog in heat for the audience below.

“One million!” Zhao Wan’er was the first to raise her paddle, screaming with excitement.

Shen Yanzhou glanced at the man once before averting his gaze in disgust. His impatience grew even sharper than before.

“This is what you called a local specialty?” he sneered, his voice lazy yet venomous. “Those dead muscles are probably built from protein powder. He looks like a piece of dry wood. Besides panting like a dog, I doubt he can even get hard. Jiang Xu, do you think I have nothing better to do? You brought me here to see this garbage exhibition?”

Jiang Xu almost spat out the red wine he had just sipped. He looked at Shen Yanzhou helplessly. “Young Master Shen, your tongue is even more poisonous than the torture devices in this black market.”

The next few lots were even more disastrous.

Some were wretched-looking, while others were so terrified by the crowd’s jeers that their legs buckled as soon as they stepped on stage, drawing a wave of laughter and insults from below.

“Lot X-5… starting bid, five hundred thousand…”

“Too ugly.” Shen Yanzhou closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, feeling a wave of physical nausea. “Even with the lights off in bed, I have aesthetic standards. Looking at a face like a failed ape evolution would kill my libido in a second.”

He stood up, his voice icy. “Let’s go. A waste of time.”

“Don’t be in such a rush,” Jiang Xu said, grabbing Shen Yanzhou’s wrist. The coolness of the skin beneath his touch sent a thrill through him, but he quickly regained his composure. “The main event is about to start. If you can’t find anyone you like in this one, I’ll write my name backward.”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the loud, heavy metal music that had been blaring through the speakers abruptly cut off.

In an instant, all the lights in the room went out.

The darkness descended without warning, and the once noisy crowd fell silent.

Then, a suffocating aura swept through the entire space as a massive alloy cage slowly rose.

This was no ordinary pheromone. It was a storm of gunpowder, rust, blood, and sheer violence. Several low-rank Omegas and Betas in the front row turned pale instantly. Some clutched their chests and gagged, their bodies going limp as if they were on the verge of going into heat.

Even Jiang Xu, a Class A Alpha, bolted upright. The smile vanished from his face, replaced by extreme vigilance and shock. His hands clenched into fists on his knees, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

“Fuck…” Jiang Xu hissed, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as his pupils constricted. “What kind of monster is this? This pressure… it’s definitely S-rank or higher.”

Only Shen Yanzhou remained standing elegantly by the floor-to-ceiling window.

Because he was a “Scentless” Omega.

This was God’s greatest cruelty to him and also his greatest mercy at this moment.

“Next up,” the host’s voice trembled. He was truly terrified, his teeth chattering, “is tonight’s grand finale. Number: X-9. Ability Level: S-rank or above.”

A pale, blinding spotlight cut through the darkness like a sword, shining directly on the man in the cage.

He sat cross-legged in the center of the cold steel cage. His sculpted muscles were taut and fluid, brimming with explosive power, like a bow drawn to its limit. Though his wrists were bound behind him with alloy chains as thick as his arms and a bite collar encircled his neck, he still sat with a perfectly straight back, showing no hint of submission or desire to please.

A silver half-mask covered the upper part of his face, leaving only his knife-carved jawline visible. His thin lips were pressed firmly together, radiating a cold indifference that warned others to keep their distance.

As if sensing the gaze from the second floor, a look not of fear but of scrutiny and judgment, the man in the cage slowly raised his head.

Across a ten-meter vertical drop, across the divide between clamor and silence, across the cage and the glass, across the boundary of light and dark.

Those eyes crashed into Shen Yanzhou’s vision without warning.

They were deep, black, and as still as an ancient well.

There was no trapped animal’s rage, no fear of fate.

“I want him.” Shen Yanzhou’s voice was very light, but his eyes were fixed on the man.

Jiang Xu snapped back to his senses and looked at Shen Yanzhou with a complicated expression. “Young Master Shen, you want him? Even I can feel how dangerous he is.”

“I want him,” he repeated. “No matter the cost, I will bid for this man.”

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