Forcibly Marked by My Fiancé’s Best Friend - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

As soon as these words were spoken, both men were stunned.

He Yu stared at Fia. Just moments ago, he had been like a predator—dangerous and alert. Now, watching the girl’s innocent smile, his demeanor gradually softened.

He holstered his gun.

“You want him to be your mother? How is that going to work?” He Yu was skilled at hiding his schemes, but at this moment, he made no effort to conceal his private desires.

Fia didn’t look at him. Instead, she gazed at Lian Xu and asked, “Brother, will you come back with me?”

The only experimental base on this desolate planet—whether the lead was real or fake, it was worth investigating. As for Fia’s request, Lian Xu reluctantly agreed.

At the research base, most people wore lab coats; at most, he’d just need a wig to play the part. Furthermore, among Omegas of his class, Lian Xu’s build was on the leaner side, which helped offset the potential giveaway of a “female” being unusually tall.

However, he never imagined that Fia wasn’t planning for him to be an ordinary researcher.

The two flew the aircraft to a wasteland where nothing but yellow sand stretched to the horizon. A dilapidated wooden shack stood lonely in the wilderness. Inside, boxes of various shapes and sizes were scattered about.

Hidden beneath the largest box was a trapdoor.

While the two were figuring out how to descend, Fia opened another chest and pulled out two exquisite formal outfits. One was a white fishtail gown with a long train; the other was a black tuxedo.

To ensure there were no flaws, Fia had even found a long, wavy blonde wig, trimmed to fit Lian Xu’s head, and handed it to him along with the dress.

Looking at the dress in his hands, Lian Xu regretted agreeing to the plan without asking for details.

He Yu, however, changed into the elegant black tuxedo with a beaming smile. He wrapped an arm around Lian Xu’s slender waist and said, “Wife, aren’t you going to change? Time is running out!”

Fia tactfully turned her back.

“Brother, my mother was as tall as you, so don’t worry about being exposed. Just don’t speak,” Fia said. “Whenever a new reagent is successfully developed, the base director throws a ball to celebrate. Only those with internal invitations can attend, so everyone lets their guard down briefly. If we don’t sneak in now, we might never get another chance.”

This particular ball was to celebrate the successful creation of a reagent that could reverse “corpse transformation.” If Lian Xu didn’t take it in time, he feared he would lose his sanity and become a mindless walking corpse.

If he was lucky, he might end up like the man they brought onto the aircraft—drifting in and out of lucidity.

Beyond that, Lian Xu sensed Fia was hiding a secret. Since they were here, he intended to investigate everything to the bottom.

“Wife, why are you just standing there? Do you want me to help you dress?”

Wearing black leather gloves, He Yu’s fingertips toyed with the buttons of his military uniform.

Lian Xu slapped his hand away expressionlessly. “It’s just an act. Stop with the nicknames.”

“You have to commit to the role. Haven’t you heard that before?” The corners of He Yu’s mouth curled up; he was already anticipating what Lian Xu would look like in a dress.

A moment later, under the Alpha’s burning gaze, Lian Xu shed his military uniform inch by inch and changed into the form-fitting, off-the-shoulder fishtail gown.

The Omega’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He truly could not accept his appearance in a dress.

“Could your… ‘mother’ not be male?”

A “male mother” is still a mother.

A spark of inspiration hit Fia; that suggestion seemed decent.

“If Brother can’t accept wearing a dress, then just wear a suit like him.” Saying this, Fia reached into the bottom of the chest and pulled out another set of black male formal wear.

He Yu’s lip twitched.

Was I just playing?

Once Lian Xu had changed back into the suit, Fia moved the partition: “Let’s go down.”

The suit was far more comfortable than the dress. Lian Xu followed her down the stairs in a much better mood.

Fia followed his lead. After a few steps, she looked back up at the Alpha and shrugged helplessly. “Brother Lian Xu wasn’t willing. I couldn’t help you there.”

He Yu: “…”

The Alpha followed last, his face cold.

The stairs led to the main entrance of the research base. Fia led them inside through iris recognition. Upon entering, they were greeted by rows of neatly arranged test tubes. Human bodies were submerged in transparent solutions within the tubes to prevent decay.

“They are prisoners who invaded this planet, used specifically for experiments,” Fia explained. “Years ago, a group of invaders from another planet broke in, pillaging and burning. The base director rallied the people to subdue them. The experiments required living subjects; they were the ‘lucky’ ones chosen.”

“Heh—”

Yu stepped forward, grabbing Lian Xu’s arm to pull him behind his back while a metal-cased folding knife slid smoothly into the other’s pocket. He leveled his gun at the back of Fia’s head and clicked the safety off, his voice low:

“How does a kid like you know so much? You led us here on purpose, didn’t you?”

Fia sniffled and gave a small, indifferent hum.

She admitted her motive without hesitation.

“My mom and dad were turned into experimental subjects too. Those two right there.”

She pointed to two massive glass tubes. The people inside had twisted limbs that could no longer be called human; long hair floated in the solution, and their faces were blurred beyond gender recognition.

“No one remembers who they are. Only I know they are the ones who raised me,” Fia said, her emotional stability uncharacteristic of a normal human. “Soon they will become just like the walking corpses on the beach, because the experiment failed.”

Lian Xu gripped He Yu’s wrist, moving the gun away from the back of Fia’s head, his expression complex.

“Why would they conduct such inhumane experiments?”

Fia glanced back at Lian Xu, trying to read something in his expression. A minute later, she ran behind an operations console, crawled onto the floor, and reached into a gap to pull out a yellowed diary.

After retrieving it, she patted off the dust and flipped through the pages. Finding what she was looking for, she ran back excitedly, standing on her tiptoes to hold the diary up for Lian Xu to see.

Yu instinctively pulled Lian Xu into his chest by the waist and took the diary from the girl.

Pressed against the Alpha’s chest, Lian Xu felt the Alpha’s pheromones surge, hitting the gland at the back of his neck. His back stiffened as he scanned the contents; his pupils dilated instantly.

The diary contained anatomical diagrams of humanoid experiments.

Further in were dense, detailed records of procedures, failed cases, and projected results.

“This is nothing but the creation of biological weapons!” Lian Xu said indignantly.

He Yu was also baffled. “With technology advancing so fast, why would anyone study something so primitive?”

Fia spoke up: “Mama said that once the experiment succeeds, the modified people will live like normal humans, mimicking habits and local languages. Their brains will be connected to machines for remote consciousness control, and everything that happens to them can be decoded into data and transmitted back.”

“I don’t understand what Mama meant by ‘data,’ but I think if this succeeds, it will be very dangerous for humanity. Mama said that if someone truly figures it out, then the humans outside this planet will be replaced. From the outside in, even this planet won’t be spared. Not all the invaders were bad people, but they were turned into subjects anyway, and locals are picked for experiments too. My parents didn’t want to become bad people like them, so they were made into subjects.”

Lian Xu patted the top of Fia’s head. “Don’t be afraid. It’s okay. We will destroy this base, and no one will ever study human modification again.”

Fia didn’t understand why they did the experiments; she only knew what her parents told her about the danger.

And she had seen with her own eyes when those people locked her parents in giant tubes and poured in the clear liquid. They struggled and screamed at first, trying to climb out, but the people outside watched coldly—some even clapped.

Not until the screaming faded and their limbs slowed did her parents finally give up, completely enveloped by the solution.

So she fled the base, but the world outside was nothing like she imagined.

Lian Xu and He Yu looked at each other. Both knew that if this succeeded, these indistinguishable experimental subjects would become a grave threat to humanity. If such beings were taught combat, piloted mechs, and passed exams to enter the military… the consequences would be unthinkable.

A mastermind far away on a desolate planet could collapse an entire planetary system using nothing but a physical shell and a controlled brain.

“This is all just your side of the story. Why should we believe you?”

Fia blinked and pulled a badge out of her small satchel.

“Where did you get this?!” Lian Xu asked.

This was an official rank insignia worn by officers of the Imperial Planet. Judging by the material, it was an older model from about ten years ago.

Fia handed it to Lian Xu. “They were the first batch of subjects. The uncle who gave me this said he was from the Imperial Planet, here to scout the terrain. The hundred or so people with him are all soaking in those tubes.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s gone,” Fia said. “He helped me escape the base and we hid in the abandoned house above. But it wasn’t long before they found us. He hid me in a box, and he…”

“He also gave me this.” Fia pulled an Imperial-made optical computer (light-brain) from her bag.

At this point, He Yu dismissed the idea of Fia being a mole. Officers sent on such missions were highly trained; they would never easily give something as vital as an optical computer to an outsider.

In case of danger, the device must be destroyed immediately.

He examined the device closely, his peripheral vision locked on the composed Fia. Even if she were a mole, it didn’t matter—he was confident he could clear any obstacle here.

Lian Xu snatched the device and tucked it into his pocket.

“We’ll look at it when we get back.”

He Yu was stunned for a second, then chuckled, rubbing Lian Xu’s waist. “What’s the rush? It’s not like I won’t give it to you, wife.”

Lian Xu gave him a flat look. “Enough. You can stop acting now.”

“Why?” Yu asked earnestly.

Lian Xu sighed, unsure if the man was playing dumb or actually was.

“Fia’s parents are already… so there’s no need to play the part.”

Yu licked his lips, his nose catching the faint scent of the Omega’s pheromones. His voice turned lazy: “Wife…”

Lian Xu clenched his fist. “I said there’s no need—”

“Fia! What are you doing there?!”

A man in a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses suddenly appeared. He looked young, yet his hair was already white. He stood near a test tube, eyes fixed on Fia.

Fia turned back and made a shushing gesture, then said to the white-haired man, “I went out with Mama and Papa. We just got back.”

He Yu: “…”

Lian Xu: “?”

Hadn’t Fia’s parents already been turned into experimental subjects?!

But the white-haired man didn’t show the slightest suspicion. Instead, he smiled and welcomed them: “I see. Good work, Doctor!”