I Married A Proud, Beautiful Omega First, Then Fell In Love - Chapter 2

Qin stared at Douglas’s physical examination results on the light screen, his eyes burning with fury. He looked as if he wanted to smash the cup in his hand over Douglas’s head.

The screen displayed an image of Douglas’s lung condition; both lobes were covered in large patches of cancerous black matter.

“It’s nothing much… I just always felt irritated at the front lines. It so happened we liberated a planet occupied by the Zerg, and I found some tobacco there,” Douglas said, feeling a bit guilty.

Qin pointed at him, his finger trembling for a long time. Finally, he took a deep breath and flashed a weirdly kind smile.

“Go get purified.”

Douglas was promptly kicked into the treatment pod by Qin. As his body was submerged in the pale blue organic liquid, Douglas thought: Finally, I can get some sleep.

One Hour Later

“Sir, please confirm your name once more.”

“Douglas.”

The brown-haired man reclined on the sofa. His casual posture was completely out of place among the rigid, upright Imperial police officers surrounding him.

“Very well, sir.”

“Can I go now?” Seeing the staff member in the black uniform tapping incessantly on the light screen, Douglas couldn’t help but sit up and ask.

The clean-cut officer glanced at him, his eyes reflecting a subtle apology. “Not yet. Please wait a moment. I am contacting your relative. Once the fine is paid, you may leave.”

Douglas felt a wave of frustration.

Having been away for three years, he hadn’t expected the traffic regulations of the Imperial Capital Star to have changed so much. Even parking a starship in front of the Research Institute resulted in sanctions.

It had been an emergency; he hadn’t even had time to contact Qin before being taken away.

“Wait, which relative are you talking about?” Douglas suddenly had a bad feeling.

The officer waved his hand, turning the projection of the light screen toward Douglas and pointing with his finger.

“There is only one relative reachable in your basic profile—your spouse. We have already sent an instant SMS pop-up to him through the system.”

“Please rest assured, the data we queried through your biological information is only basic information and will not violate your privacy. The Empire has comprehensive national privacy protection regulations,” the officer added, seeing Douglas’s distressed expression.

Douglas took a deep breath. Oxygen flowed through his newly purified lungs, but he still desperately wanted a cigarette to calm down.

He felt his future was bleak. Given Elan’s personality, he feared the man would only do what he did last night—toss him aside to fend for himself.

At this moment, the names of a few close friends flashed through Douglas’s mind, but unfortunately, being prohibited from using his brain-computer interface (Intellect-Brain), he couldn’t contact anyone.

Just as he was thinking of other ways, the officer looked away from the screen and notified him, “Sir, your spouse has acknowledged the message and is on his way. Please do not worry.”

Douglas’s racing thoughts stuttered at these words, turning into a sense of bewilderment.

That high-maintenance guy is actually coming?

But soon, his attention was drawn to a 3D news projection in the lobby.

The mouth of the news anchor in the pale blue projection moved, uttering news that Douglas found preposterous.

“Imperial General Lu led the Interstellar Task Force against the Zerg on the fringes of the galaxy for three years, successfully liberating thirty-two occupied planets and saving countless lives. Upon this return, the Great King of Tansan will hold an honor-bestowal ceremony for General Lu, where we will finally see the General’s true face.”

Douglas Lu, who knew nothing of this ceremony: ?

“General Lu is amazing, isn’t he? They say he’s the Alpha with the highest mental strength and the best physical compatibility with mechs in the Empire,” the clean-cut officer chatted casually, seeing Douglas watching the broadcast.

Douglas didn’t speak, only giving an awkward, light chuckle.

“What’s the use of being amazing? No bloodline, no background—just knowing how to solve problems with brute force. He’ll fall sooner or later.”

A short-haired officer carrying a cup of coffee walked past, chiming in with a strange tone.

The atmosphere chilled instantly.

The clean-cut officer moved his eyes back to the screen in silence.

Douglas, however, let out an interested hum and didn’t speak. He merely scanned the short-haired officer from head to toe.

The short-haired officer frowned deeply, instinctively annoyed by Douglas’s scrutiny. However, upon sensing the malice and ruthlessness in the eyes of this “low-life” from some backwater planet, he awkwardly avoided eye contact and chose self-preservation.

Douglas retracted his gaze. In the eerie silence, he leaned his head back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling.

He suddenly wanted to eat noodles.

A bowl of steaming, plain scallion noodles that didn’t belong to this era.

Ten years ago, on the blue planet where humans coexisted tenaciously with the Zerg, every time he and Lu Fei returned from hunting Zerg, Old Lu would make them a bowl of noodles.

There was no meat, only a few drops of oil, because meat and oil were scarce resources.

Just as Douglas fell into deep thought and his eyes began to lose focus, footsteps sounded at the entrance.

Douglas snapped out of it, feeling a headache coming on. He remembered that Qin had repeatedly warned him not to indulge in past memories, or it might lead to schizophrenia.

“The bail has been paid. Can he leave now?” a cold voice asked.

Douglas looked up and locked eyes with Elan, who stood there with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

He wore a light gray suit with a black trench coat draped over his shoulders. His posture was casual, his chin slightly tilted like a noble swan—but this swan currently had impatience in its eyes, looking like it wanted to peck someone.

Douglas suddenly felt a sense of self-deprecation. He faked a cough and uncomfortably tugged at his jacket.

The moment the short-haired officer saw Elan, the look in his eyes shifted repeatedly, moving between Douglas and Elan with shock and curiosity.

The clean-cut officer stood up, holding a scanner. “Are you Mr. Douglas’s spouse? We need to confirm your identity. Once the biological imprint is scanned, you may leave.”

Walking out of the police station, Douglas followed awkwardly behind Elan.

He had been clamoring for a divorce in front of Contanyi this morning, and by the afternoon, he needed the person he wanted to divorce to bail him out.

Truly embarrassing.

A sleek, white starship was parked at the entrance of the mid-air orbital track. Not far from the ship, the golden head in front of him suddenly turned.

Elan turned around, frowning. “Don’t cause me trouble in the future.”

“This time was an emergency; it won’t happen again.” Douglas was clearly in the wrong.

He didn’t want to trouble Elan either—ideally, they would have no connection at all—but Elan was his only legal relative, so there had been no other choice.

Seeing Douglas’s decent attitude, Elan’s expression softened significantly. He looked elsewhere and said somewhat unnaturally, “Tomorrow, I’m going home. You’re coming with me.”

“Why should I go with you when you’re going home?” Douglas refused subconsciously. “I’m not going.”

Elan’s softened expression turned cold again. “Go or don’t go, suit yourself. Go back on your own then.”

Elan turned away. A second before stepping onto the starship, he remembered something, reached into his coat, and pulled out a cowhide notebook with a pen attached.

The notebook was thrown heavily at him. To Douglas, the force felt like a feather. He caught it with his arm and asked somewhat urgently, “Where did you get this? Did you read it?”

“A frivolous red-haired Alpha delivered it to the house. I have no interest in your things.”

The white starship streaked away like a meteor, merging into the mid-air orbit.

Only then did Douglas realize something.

His starship was still impounded.

The police said the person could leave, but they didn’t say the starship could.

If Elan didn’t take him home, it was impossible to move an inch on this planet that had orbital tracks but no sidewalks.

Whatever. He hadn’t planned on going home anyway.

Douglas pondered for a moment, opened his Intellect-Brain, and with the phrase “a frivolous red-haired Alpha” circling in his mind, he started calling for backup.

Once the request was accepted, a man with semi-long red hair and green eyes appeared in a projection, wearing a frivolous smile.

“Hi, Douglas. Long time no see.”

“How are you doing? Did you go home?”

Douglas interrupted his string of questions. “Did you go to my house?”

Pohl nodded while swirling a wine glass, a sudden spark of excitement in his eyes. “Yes. As the great King Tansan’s secretary, I went to deliver a few small, personal items belonging to you to your spouse.”

“However, I must say I was surprised. Your spouse is actually such a beautiful and elegant Omega. He’s like a fragrant lily, like soft holy light, like clear lake water…”

The image of Elan appeared in Douglas’s mind. He sneered, “Do I need to remind you that three years ago you already had two Omega partners, one Beta partner, and even an Alpha partner?”

Pohl smiled sheepishly. “It’s the custom of the Reformists. Things are different now; these kinds of open relationships are normal.”

“Anyway, don’t get any ideas about him,” Douglas said sternly.

“Alright, I get it. What’s the rush?” Pohl narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t contact me just to ask about this, did you?”

“Indeed.” Douglas nodded. “I’m at the light rail entrance in front of the police station. Come pick me up.”

Pohl looked startled. He carefully observed the scenery behind Douglas through the projection. “How did you end up there? Where is your starship?”

“Confiscated.” Douglas really didn’t want to answer, but he gave a brief description of his ordeal anyway.

“Alright, I’ll pick you up. It seems you need a crash course on the latest life guide for the Capital Star,” Pohl shrugged.

On Pohl’s Starship

The red-haired man in formal attire picked up a teacup from its saucer and took a sip of mellow black tea. His flirtatious eyes landed curiously on Douglas. “Why aren’t you going home?”

Douglas wrinkled his nose. As an Alpha, his sense of smell was extremely keen, and he didn’t know how Pohl could stand the heavy fragrance inside the starship.

“I just don’t want to, that’s all.”

Seeing that Douglas didn’t want to engage, Pohl set down his teacup with a smile. As Contanyi’s chief secretary, he was well-versed in diplomatic skills and sensitive to the subtle attitudes and emotions in interpersonal interactions.

“Fine,” Pohl changed the subject. “Petrovna and Fu Ling will certainly be happy. After all, the Special Operations Department is quite lonely right now.”

The expression on Douglas’s face darkened, and a pang of inexplicable bitterness hit his heart. “How is Fu Ling’s health?”

Pohl nodded. “She’s doing quite well. After Qin joined the Research Institute, he met many noble medical scientists. They used advanced technology to treat Fu Ling.”

Seeing Douglas’s slumped posture, Pohl tried to lighten the mood. He smiled and said, “It’s thanks to you, fighting on the fringes of the galaxy, that we can live such a peaceful life in the Capital Star. Everyone is very grateful to you.”

“Ah, that reminds me.” Pohl suddenly remembered something.

He used voice commands on his Intellect-Brain to send a micro-file to Douglas.

“What’s this?” Douglas watched as the file, named with random characters, opened automatically. Tiny text like ants scrolled before him.

Douglas felt an immediate sense of resistance. “I have a reading disability.”

Pohl shook his head. “Don’t talk nonsense. As far as I know, your psychological condition hasn’t reached that level of severity.”

“It’s the latest life guide for the Capital Star. Chapter three is about traffic rules, and the later sections are about highly-rated restaurants and cafes. If you want to go on a date with your spouse, you can use it as a reference,” Pohl explained.

Douglas glanced at the contents of the file and quickly had his Intellect-Brain close it. He asked, “Why is it named with random characters? I remember you always cared about a sense of ceremony.”

“My Intellect-Brain had a small glitch,” Pohl said helplessly. “Wood took it to run some experiments.”

Wood? Douglas hadn’t heard that name before.

However, judging by the romantic aura surrounding Pohl when he mentioned the name, it was likely another one of his partners.

Douglas didn’t pursue the question. He always respected other people’s lifestyles, even if he didn’t necessarily agree with them.

He stood up and asked, “There should be a place to wash up on your starship, right?”

“Yes, just follow the white indicator lights.” Pohl pressed a button beside him, and a white light lit up on the ceiling of the control cabin.

As Douglas’s figure disappeared down the corridor, Pohl said appreciatively, “He’s finally starting to pay attention to his appearance. A married Alpha is truly different.”

When Douglas emerged after freshening up, Pohl’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did I never notice before that you were… quite handsome?”

Douglas rubbed his smooth chin, feeling a bit unaccustomed to his current state.

He asked, “Do you know about that honor-bestowal ceremony? I saw it on the news projection at the police station. Why didn’t I know about it?”

Pohl seemed to just remember. He let out an “Ah” and smiled apologetically. “I forgot to notify you. Sorry.”

Douglas was speechless. To him, Pohl’s expression didn’t look sorry at all.

“I should write a letter to the King of Tansan to report you for dereliction of duty.”

“Hey, we’re friends, don’t be so heartless.” Pohl winked. “I’m counting on this small salary the King pays me to survive.”

“This small? A chief secretary’s salary is higher than mine.” Douglas’s gaze pierced through the starship’s transparent screen, catching the window of the Special Operations Department on the 32nd floor of a distant skyscraper.

“But your position is far more important than mine; you can’t compare them like that.” Pohl set down his teacup and stood up.

They had arrived at the Special Operations Department.