The Omega Pretending to Be an Alpha Was Accidentally Marked by His Boss - Chapter 12

The bustling banquet hall was filled with people moving back and forth. The members of Squad Four had watched Qiu Nan march off toward the Director with the solemn resolve of a soldier heading to his execution, only to return two sentences later.

Mi Zhu grew anxious. “Why are you back already? Don’t tell me you chickened out, Qiu’er?”

Qiu Nan gestured behind himself with his thumb. “Director Xie is in the middle of a discussion.”

“Oh.” Mi Zhu’s bravado deflated. Glancing irritably at Wu Jiada, who was practically beaming with joy across the room, he muttered, “What actual business could that dog Old Wu possibly have?”

Qiu Nan, who had just sat down, delivered a vicious kick to Mi Zhu’s shin under the table. “Watch your mouth! Don’t disrupt team solidarity!”

“Damn, take it easy.” Mi Zhu suddenly realized he had let slip the nickname they usually used to mock Wu Jiada in private. He looked around guiltily, but the venue was noisy; aside from a few Squad Four members nearby, no one else had heard.

The group shared a knowing laugh, but when Sang Yongyi looked back at Qiu Nan, she noticed something off about his expression.

The untouched beer sat in front of him, but he was holding his carton of orange juice, taking tiny sips. His eyes were out of focus, carrying a misty, vacant quality—he was completely spacing out.

For a captain who was normally bursting with energy at any given second, this was a rare sight indeed.

Qiu Nan always claimed that his scent glands hadn’t developed properly, which made his lack of typical Alpha physical prowess somewhat excusable. Right now, this harmless, gentle look made him resemble a Beta or an Omega. It was actually quite endearing.

Amused, Sang Yongyi waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth to Captain!”

“Huh?” Qiu Nan looked up, meeting Sang Yongyi’s teasing gaze, his face flushing slightly. “What?”

“What’s with that look? Is a little rejection really that discouraging?”

“No, I was just thinking about something else!” Qiu Nan downed the rest of his orange juice in one gulp, but he didn’t look back toward the Director’s table again.

After that little episode, nobody urged him to go offer a toast anymore, and he didn’t want to go either.

He just felt a bit deflated, though he couldn’t quite pin down why.

Qiu Nan wanted to be left alone, but trouble came looking for him instead.

Several members from Squad Three approached, glasses in hand and wicked grins plastered across their faces. “Captain Qiu, we came to offer you a toast! We watched the combat footage from yesterday. That move of yours was insanely cool! Major respect!”

The latter half of the sentence forced Qiu Nan, who had intended to ignore them, to acknowledge their presence.

Squad Three and Squad Four were constantly vying to outdo each other, yet among the ten operational teams, they were the closest partners and frequently went out on missions together.

The current dynamic between the two teams was simple: they would ridicule and bicker with each other during downtime, but shield and support one another during operations. It was a perpetual cycle of friction—a classic love-hate relationship that even Lan Mingliang had long grown used to.

The guys coming over for the toast clearly harbored ulterior motives. Guessing that even if Qiu Nan could drink, his tolerance was likely abysmal, they had come with the sole intention of getting him wasted.

Seeing their sly expressions, the members of Squad Four knew exactly what was up. Mi Zhu stood up, glass in hand. “Vice Captain Pi, our Captain Qiu has zero alcohol tolerance. He gets rowdy when he’s drunk. Vice Captain Huo and I will drink on his behalf!”

With a sharp look from Mi Zhu, Huo Honghai tossed aside the melon seed shells in his hand and stood up to join him.

Pi Zhen, the Vice Captain of Squad Three, craned his neck to look past them and asked Qiu Nan with a smirk, “Captain Qiu, are you a man or what? Give us some face here.”

The words were highly provocative. It was as if a specific nerve in Qiu Nan’s brain had been triggered. Biting his lip, he stood up. “Fine, you want face? You got it.”

“Thanks, brother!” Pi Zhen raised his glass and drained it in one go.

For a three-meter radius around the table, the air fell dead silent for a few seconds. Then, Pi Zhen erupted into a hearty laugh. “Alright, Captain Qiu! Man enough! Another?”

Qiu Nan gave him a flat look and set his glass down. “Can’t. Any more and I’ll be drunk.”

Pi Zhen swirled his empty glass, curling his lip toward his teammates. “Now I finally understand why Squad Four always loses to us in drinking contests. Looks like we’ve found the root of the problem!”

He laid a deliberately obnoxious emphasis on the word “root.”

“Bullshit, Pi Zhen! When has Squad Four ever backed down?” Mi Zhu’s face instantly darkened. He hated hearing anyone say Squad Four wasn’t up to par, and he hated it even more when someone used veiled insults against his captain.

Pi Zhen feigned a look of difficulty. “But your captain just admitted defeat. Captain Qiu, alcohol tolerance is something you have to practice! If you never drink, you’ll never build it up!”

Qiu Nan’s sharp gaze swept over their faces. Letting out a cold laugh, he reached down, grabbed the beer bottle in front of Sang Yongyi, and poured himself another glass.

The pale-yellow foam rushed upward, spilling over the brim and trickling down the sides of the glass onto the tabletop.

Pouring a drink like this showed Qiu Nan had zero experience, and even less of a good attitude.

Holding the bottle in one hand and the glass in the other, he stepped behind Mi Zhu, nudging him aside. He raised his glass toward Pi Zhen. “Vice Captain Pi, bottoms up.”

Mi Zhu was stunned.

Amid the triumphant cheers of Squad Three, they watched as Qiu Nan poured yet another glass, filling it to the brim in one go.

The surrounding area grew completely quiet. Everyone turned their attention toward them. Captain Qiu, who famously never touched a drop of alcohol, seemed to be possessed today. Why on earth was he letting Squad Three’s cheap provocation get to him?

Seeing that he was about to drink again, Mi Zhu screamed internally that things were going south. He rushed forward to snatch the glass. “Captain Qiu, if you can’t drink, don’t force it. Let this humble servant take your place!”

He flashed Qiu Nan a playful wink, terrified that the captain didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation.

If you drink any more, your secret is going to blow!

But the look in Qiu Nan’s eyes clearly shouted: I am going to take this bastard down with me!

Mi Zhu had no idea why he was pushing himself so hard.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t faced situations like this before; usually, Qiu Nan wouldn’t give them the time of day. Why was he being so impulsive today?

Then, Mi Zhu accidentally caught sight of a red mark on his captain’s forearm—the distinct, faint indentation left behind by an auto-injector.

So, he secretly sneaked an inhibitor shot just now?

Mi Zhu stared in disbelief: Are you serious, boss? Your competitive streak is way too intense! Those things are insanely expensive! Can you really afford to waste them like this?

Qiu Nan glared back: I refuse to lose!

Overwhelmed by Qiu Nan’s intense aura, Mi Zhu’s hand slackened, releasing his grip on the glass.

Qiu Nan raised his eyebrows and lifted the glass toward a smug-looking Pi Zhen, only for his wrist to suddenly be seized by a firm grip.

A faint scent of green pine had spread through the air at some point. The Alphas from the field operations teams all felt a mutual wave of instinctual pressure wash over them.

Meanwhile, Qiu Nan let out a sudden sneeze.

Without even looking, he knew exactly who had arrived.

The field agents exchanged glances. They could tell the Director was not pleased. His pheromones carried the natural dominance of a powerful Alpha suppressing weaker ones, signaling that his current mindset was one of absolute authority and warning.

Xie Yunnian’s hand slid down from Qiu Nan’s wrist, casually taking the wine glass from his fingers.

“I’ll drink a few rounds with everyone on Captain Qiu’s behalf.” Xie Yunnian shifted his dark eyes away from Qiu Nan’s face, turning to sweep his gaze over the group of instigators. The look made them instinctively stiffen their necks. “My apologies, but Captain Qiu promised me that if I get drunk tonight, he’ll drive me home.”

The instigators stared blankly, their expressions turning incredibly strange as they looked at Qiu Nan.

Someone called out, “Director Xie, you and Captain Qiu should drink together then! We can drive you home later!”

Xie Yunnian narrowed his eyes slightly at the tactless fellow, and the man fell silent instantly.

He said half-jokingly, “I just finished discussing some matters with your Captain Wu, but I haven’t had a chance to chat with Captain Qiu yet. The two of us need to keep a clear head. Please go easy on us, everyone.”

With a single sentence, he defused all the awkwardness while laying down a final decision, leaving no room for anyone to pester Qiu Nan further.

Standing behind him, Qiu Nan stared blankly at his broad back for a moment. He watched as Xie Yunnian quickly mingled with the members of Squads Three and Four, casually using the glass Qiu Nan had just held to drink with his subordinates, tossing back cup after cup while chatting and laughing with total ease.

To say he wasn’t envious would be a lie.

Qiu Nan had always known that his scent glands were actually highly developed.

If I were an Alpha, wouldn’t I be just as exceptional as Director Xie?

An Alpha didn’t have to worry about losing control on the spot under the influence of monsters, nor did they have to inject expensive inhibitors before every mission just to hide their identity. They could lock arms with their comrades without a care in the world, act like “real men,” and celebrate their victories together.

But in his current state, he could only spend his days hiding in the shadows, his pockets constantly stuffed with all sorts of “Omega supplies” and dried mangoes, spending exorbitant amounts of money only to fight a losing battle.

Qiu Nan’s mood plummeted. Turning away from the banquet hall, he stepped into the elevator and headed up to the rooftop terrace.