I Married A Proud, Beautiful Omega First, Then Fell In Love - Chapter 19

The entrance ceremony was hosted by Percival. Douglas served as the principal while also acting as a special instructor for the military department; consequently, a seat surrounded by the center of the faculty had been arranged for him.

Douglas was led by his secretary to his seat. Just as he sat down, someone poked him from behind. Douglas turned around to see a military officer smiling at him with a fawning expression.

“General Douglas, I heard you have a fondness for a certain local specialty that can only be found on the fringes of the galaxy. It just so happens that I have returned from there and brought some gifts for you. I will hand them over to you after the event.”

Douglas looked at him for two seconds, his expression filled with confusion.

The officer felt a bit awkward, realizing Douglas didn’t recognize him at all. However, he quickly cheered up; if Douglas didn’t know him, wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to make an introduction? Moreover, since he had brought gifts, he might leave a good impression on General Douglas and pave a broader path for his career.

“Cough, I am the accompanying officer of Major General Petrovna. I went to the galactic fringe with her to select students. I previously served in the Capital Military District,” the officer whispered. “The gift I brought for you is…”

His voice was very soft, burying the name of the gift in Douglas’s ear. Douglas showed a look of realization, and the slight curl of his lips proved he was indeed interested. The officer felt relieved, straightening his posture and pretending as if nothing had happened.

Douglas kept a faint smile on his lips as he made eye contact with Mo Nanshan, who was not far away.

Mo Nanshan’s kind face looked a bit unnatural. He clearly recognized this former subordinate and was familiar with his ways, but having this matter brought directly before Douglas still made the old man blush with embarrassment.

“Mr. Holman, please be careful. Do not take too large a step; you are still in recovery.”

Douglas looked toward the source of the voice. He saw a gentle-looking female Beta wearing a hospital uniform, nervously supporting a stumbling male Alpha.

The man being supported wore an eyepatch over his left eye and held a cane. His movements were clumsy. Though he wore a military uniform, he had incongruously paired it with a high-collared sweater. Even so, a hideous animal bite mark extended to his chin, clearly visible to everyone.

Perhaps feeling the nurse was overly worried, Holman laughed helplessly. “Is it really as serious as you say? I’ve practiced many times; walking isn’t an issue.”

Despite his words, the nurse glanced at the patch of metal skin exposed near his left ankle.

When Douglas saw the man’s face, long-buried memories surged through time to grip his chest, strangling his throat and making it difficult to breathe.

As Holman slowly walked toward the faculty seating, his gaze froze upon seeing Douglas. His sapphire-blue eyes erupted with excitement. “I never expected the ‘Principal Douglas’ they mentioned was actually Major General Douglas! This is wonderful! Long time no see, Major General! Team Member Two of Unit 005, Holman, salutes you!”

As he spoke, to the nurse’s alarm, he exerted great effort to raise his arm and give Douglas a military salute.

Douglas’s emotions were complex, and the curve of his smile was forced. He felt as though one moment he was in a magnificent auditorium, and the next, he was on a battlefield overrun by Zerg, with the slime of their corpses clogging his nose and mouth, turning him into a corpse himself.

From somewhere, an electronic beep sounded. The voices inside were muffled, as if separated by two different dimensions.

“Zerg in Sector A eliminated… proceeding to Sector B.”

“Sector B, there are too many Zerg here, more than imagined.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. Who am I? I’m the famous Lu Fei! I’ll definitely kill these Zerg until not even an egg remains! Just watch!”

“Calling Team Member One of Unit 005, Lu Fei. Please respond, over!”

“Calling Lu Fei, please respond!”

“Major General Douglas?”

Holman’s repeated calls finally brought Douglas back to the real world. Douglas squeezed out a smile. “I’m fine. I’ve been too busy lately, so I’m a bit distracted.”

“You must take care of your health,” Holman greeted him warmly.

Douglas nodded.

As Holman struggled to sit down, the officer next to him struck up a conversation. “You are Holman, the survivor of the Glorious Battle? Truly impressive, to survive such a massive, conscious Zerg encirclement! However, you can’t call him Major General anymore; you should call him General Douglas. He is now the First Admiral of the Empire.”

At this time, the faculty from the Medical Department arrived one after another. Qin walked at the front of the group. Seeing Douglas’s dark expression and his gaze fixed intensely on a single point in the hall, Qin knew immediately that he was having another episode.

Qin rubbed his brow with a headache. Upon spotting Holman, he instantly understood the trigger for Douglas’s condition. He whispered something to a doctor beside him, who then took a vial of medicine from his coat and handed it to him.

Qin walked over and poked Douglas’s shoulder. His tone was uncharacteristically soft as he said, “You are in your susceptibility period, and your emotions are volatile. Even small stimuli might trigger a relapse of your psychological trauma. This medicine is quite potent; you should try it.”

“Inject it now; it will act as an emotional sedative. The effect is mild, but at least you’ll feel a bit better.”

Douglas regained his senses, took the vial, said his thanks, and stood up to go to the lounge.

By the time he returned and took his seat, the ceremony had been underway for a while. On the podium, Elan was speaking as the representative for the Post-Traumatic Treatment major. His lips moved, but Douglas, staring at his face and the square bandage on his Adam’s apple, couldn’t hear a word he said.

After all the student representatives had finished their speeches, Douglas said a few words symbolically.

“Welcome, students, to the Imperial Special Academy. Here, you will experience a brand-new form of education, reap growth and transformation, and become the blades of the Empire in every industry.”

The male Alpha’s low voice echoed through the auditorium via the broadcast system. His attitude was casual, yet no one dared to question him. The aura of a top-tier Imperial warrior, tempered by the battlefield, overwhelmed everyone present.

For a moment, the faculty and students felt as if they were on a battlefield—not a fake one in a simulation, but a real battlefield burning with blood and fire. And that battlefield was the domain of the extraordinary Alpha before them.

They held their breath, and after a moment of stunned silence, a thunderous applause erupted.

When the ceremony ended and most students and teachers dispersed, Percival suggested taking a commemorative photo with the top students and faculty.

Douglas was pulled into the center by Percival. He watched as Percival enthusiastically directed the students to adjust their positions, but his gaze drifted past the crowd to lock onto Elan at the edge.

Time suddenly seemed to slow down.

The photo they were about to take felt like it would be their first photo together.

Percival noticed their interaction and called out with a smile, “Student Elan…”

Come over here.

Before he could finish, a voice cut him off.

Mo Ting looked at Douglas beside him with crescent-shaped eyes and pointed to the spot next to the general. “General Douglas, may I stand here?”

Douglas’s eyes flickered. He looked at Elan; Elan’s expression remained unchanged, seemingly indifferent to the black-haired Omega’s proactive approach. Douglas suddenly smiled. “You may.”

Percival swallowed his unfinished words and shrugged at Elan. For some reason, he felt the atmosphere around Elan suddenly drop to sub-zero temperatures.

Once the positions were set, Percival presented medals to all the outstanding students.

Under the operation of the AI, a faint blue light pulsed, capturing the commemorative photo.

Elan walked out of the hall. Cheng Nian and An He, who had been waiting at the entrance, waved at him. “Elan, we’re over here!”

“I didn’t realize you were so amazing—the top student in your major?” Cheng Nian’s eyes were full of admiration.

Elan hadn’t dealt with such lively people in a long time. He didn’t quite know how to respond—or rather, he didn’t want to waste his breath responding—so he simply gave a look indicating he accepted the compliment.

Beside them, An He, who was a head taller than Cheng Nian, hadn’t taken his eyes off Elan since he appeared. Seeing Elan’s cold attitude, he couldn’t suppress the urge to get closer. He suggested:

“We’re going to the supermarket at the food supply station in a bit. Do you want to come with us?”

Just as Elan was about to refuse, his terminal suddenly buzzed. A light screen floated in the air, but the sender and content were invisible to his companions due to the privacy protection system.

Douglas: Come to the Principal’s office.

Elan’s expression suddenly froze, replaced by a look of annoyance.

Cheng Nian, seeing Elan’s face suddenly tighten and feeling a murderous aura radiating from him, said hesitantly, “Elan, if you don’t want to go, the two of us can go by ourselves.”

Elan suddenly changed his mind. “No, I’ll go with you.”

To hell with generals, principals, or Douglas. Let him play by himself.

Douglas leaned back in the leather chair of the Principal’s office, a cigarette between his fingers. Smoke almost filled the entire space. He crushed out the nearly finished cigarette and frowned, downing the amber-colored liquor with an unhappy expression.

The office door was tightly shut. He was struggling to control his surging pheromones, and he sent another message to Elan with a grimace:

Douglas: Where are you? Why aren’t you here yet?

Douglas: It’s been an hour.

Douglas: My patience has its limits.

Douglas: Do you think I have a good temper? Did you forget what I said this morning?

Douglas: Get here within five minutes.

Douglas: Hurry up.

Meanwhile, at the supermarket, Elan was being followed by two people carrying a heap of items. Cheng Nian clutched the expensive cookies and candies Elan had shoved into his arms, saying he was treating them.

He swallowed hard, looking at the elegant figure wandering leisurely in front of the shelves, feeling somewhat uneasy.

He was being given so many things despite having done nothing, and the prices were high enough to scare someone to death; he felt he truly didn’t deserve it.

Over there, Elan scrolled through the string of messages from Douglas. It seemed he had finally had enough of shopping. He looked back at the two small followers behind him. “Let’s go. Time to check out.”

Half an hour later, Elan pushed open the door to the Principal’s office. The pungent smell of tobacco smoke made him pause, but after a moment’s hesitation, he walked in with a look of disdain.

Douglas swiveled his chair around. Seeing the late-arriving Elan, a smile that made one’s skin crawl suddenly appeared on his dark face.

The door slammed shut behind him. Elan heard Douglas’s low, raspy voice say:

“You are twenty-five minutes late. You must compensate me.”

Elan’s heart suddenly filled with unease.