The Omega Pretending to Be an Alpha Was Accidentally Marked by His Boss - Chapter 7

The location of NB-420 had been locked onto a mountain on the outskirts of Nandong. In just a little over a day, it had skirted all the way from the western suburbs, where Jinning Pool was located, around the city’s perimeter to the eastern suburbs.

Xie Yunnian had deployed Squad Three earlier to set up an ambush in the area and evacuate civilians while waiting for backup.

An hour after Wu Jiada and his crew completed their preparations, Qiu Nan arrived with a fully armed Squad Four. Following the guidance of their tracking instruments, they commenced a sweeping search of the mountain.

Before long, they uncovered traces of the monster.

From aboard the helicopter, Qiu Nan contacted the ground search team to issue commands.

“Number Three, Number Three. Target is at your four o’clock. The signal is weak; it’s highly likely deep inside a cavern. Activate infrared terrain scanning.”

His voice was exceptionally steady, and his terminology was flawlessly professional—entirely because the new Director was sitting right beside him.

The man truly intended to “see” Qiu Nan’s performance. He wasn’t just listening to post-operation briefings; he had come to the field to judge with his own eyes!

Qiu Nan was stiff with tension. Not only because the man was his Director, but because he was the Alpha who had marked him. Even though Xie Yunnian wasn’t releasing a single drop of pheromones, Qiu Nan still felt an innate sense of suppression.

Or perhaps, he was just feeling deeply uncomfortable and incredibly embarrassed.

Sensing a gaze lingering on him, he instinctively turned his head. He found Director Xie scrutinizing him with an unreadable look. It felt somewhat hostile, yet the slight smile playing at the corners of the man’s lips took the edge off that confrontational aura.

Qiu Nan’s lips twitched as he forced out a strained smile, quickly turning his head back to stare out the helicopter window at the ground below.

It was baffling. Sometimes he really felt the Director’s attitude toward him was incredibly bizarre; the man only acted like a proper, straightforward boss when dealing with Old Lan.

Is it because of the mark?

Qiu Nan resolved that on his very next day off, he would head straight to the hospital to get the mark surgically removed. It was going to cost a fortune. My wallet hurts just thinking about it! My money should be spent on things that actually matter!

Xie Yunnian had offered to cover the removal expenses, but Qiu Nan genuinely lacked the face to bring it up. He felt it would only make him look even more pathetic.

Mi Zhu’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “Reporting, Captain. We have reached the perimeter of the cavern. Have you received the terrain scan?”

“Received. The internal structure of the cave is simple and meets the criteria. Deploy the acoustic waves to flush the monster out. Prepare to secure the perimeter!” He glanced at the terrain map on his screen, pausing briefly. “Stay safe.

I’ll be down shortly.”

“Copy!”

Perhaps aware that Director Xie was currently sharing a helicopter with their Captain, Mi Zhu kept his response clean and sharp.

Qiu Nan breathed a small sigh of relief. Looking down, he saw several Squad Four vehicles clustered outside the target cave. He signaled the pilot to hover directly above the site, tossed the rope ladder out, and slid down with his rifle slung over his shoulder.

Hanging on the rope ladder, Qiu Nan inhaled deeply. Ah, fresh air! The suffocating tension vanished instantly!

Suddenly, the ladder jerked twice from above. Qiu Nan gripped the rope tightly and looked up, only to feel his lungs seize all over again.

Xie Yunnian was actually climbing down after him!

“Director, you could have just watched from above!” Do you really distrust me that much?

Xie Yunnian looked down at him, offering a perfectly refined smile. “The view is clearer from down here.”

“We’re about to apprehend a monster. It’s dangerous!”

“Don’t I have you to protect me?”

Qiu Nan was left utterly speechless.

What a high-maintenance young master. Did he truly have no concept of how lethal monsters were? Did he think the creature would politely bypass him because of his wealth and status?

Besides, that last sentence sounded incredibly strange.

With no time to overthink, his boots hit the ground. He greeted the members of Squad Four, who had already deployed the disruptive acoustic waves into the cave and were waiting just outside the entrance to spring the trap.

Qiu Nan had injected himself with a suppressant before setting out. Now that the medication was kicking in, a wave of lethargy washed over him, making him incredibly drowsy. This was the standard side effect of administering a suppressant outside of an active heat cycle, but it was manageable. He was used to it.

Over twenty people stood around the clearing, yet it was so quiet that one could hear the faint whistling of the wind.

Squad Four was exceptionally well-trained. Xie Yunnian swept his eyes across the perimeter, noting that their tactical positioning demonstrated a deep, unspoken chemistry. They controlled every vital vantage point in the area, with Captain Qiu Nan acting as the absolute anchor of the formation—a clear testament to years of shared combat experience.

Xie Yunnian looked toward Qiu Nan, catching him right as he silently let out a massive yawn. Their eyes locked mid-yawn; Qiu Nan’s wide-open mouth instantly stiffened, and his jaw practically locked up.

Wincing in sharp pain, Qiu Nan tilted his head and desperately massaged his cheek. Seeing his Captain in distress, Mi Zhu rushed over to help massage the other side, staring at him as if he were a complete idiot, utterly devoid of any professional reverence.

Xie Yunnian: “?”

Why is this squad actually a bit hilarious?

Despite the chaotic scrambling between the two, not a single sound was made. Xie Yunnian suddenly felt he was watching the absolute pinnacle of a silent comedy routine.

Positioned diagonally from them, Squad Four’s Vice Captain, Huo Honghai, was entirely speechless. Holding a tracking device in his hands, he pushed up his slipping glasses and raised his right arm high, flashing the hand signal for Target imminent.

A dozen rifles instantly trained on the cave entrance, and the Number Seven “Capture Net” launcher was brought into position.

They were prepared for both contingencies. B-rank monsters were entirely different from D-ranks; a B-rank classification carried a “cleared for termination” protocol. This meant that in a critical crisis, field agents were authorized to disregard the life of the target. Consequently, the entire field unit was locked and loaded with live ammunition, determined to suppress the threat within the tightest possible parameters.

Half a minute later, a colossal monstrosity charged out of the cavern, its blood-red maw wide open.

Its limbs were spindly and elongated, contrasting sharply with its grotesque, bloated torso. A dense ring of eyes clustered tightly along the edge of its umbrella-shaped cranium—a sight guaranteed to make anyone’s skin crawl.

Number Seven, Sang Yongyi, shouldered the net launcher and fired the opening shot without a moment’s hesitation. A massive, electrified mesh unfurled in mid-air, landing squarely over NB-420 before automatically constricting.

The enraged monster let out a furious roar that caused the surrounding foliage to shudder. With a violent swipe of its razor-sharp claws, it shredded the mesh to pieces, leaving nothing but a few scorched, black streaks across its slimy hide.

Having witnessed the raw power of B-rank entities multiple times before, Qiu Nan hadn’t expected the capture net to hold it anyway. He tapped his earpiece, switching to the all-hands channel. “Squad Four, open fire. Avoid vital organs if possible. Perimeter units, prepare to close the net.”

Xie Yunnian watched him silently from the sidelines.

The moment he engaged in operational duties, Qiu Nan became an entirely different person. The faint red marks from his self-inflicted jaw injury were still visible on his cheeks, yet his entire being had instantly locked into a state of absolute focus. His sharp, decisive gaze pinned the creature in place, the muscles along his jaw tightening slightly under the stress.

Yet, due to his innate Omega biology, his muscle lines remained remarkably fluid, and the shape of his eyes possessed an elegant grace. The cable of his black earpiece draped softly along the side of his face, accentuating the stark, snowy whiteness of his neck and softening the contours of his profile.

Frankly, it was a striking contrast to his usual brash and rugged demeanor.

Xie Yunnian recalled the clinical advice the doctor had given him at the hospital the previous day: “Sir, although the patient suffers from a severe allergic reaction to your pheromone scent, in terms of your raw gland compatibility and hormone profiles, your match rating is an astounding 99%. It is the highest I have ever witnessed in my career. Your gland health is flawless, and the patient’s is identical. He may not present the typical fragility of an ordinary Omega in daily life because he possesses an exceptionally robust gland—one so superior it holds significant scientific research value.”

A rhythmic volley of gunfire snapped Xie Yunnian back to reality. He tore his gaze away from Qiu Nan’s face, refocusing on NB-420 a short distance ahead.

Having taken several rounds to its torso, the monster bellowed in unbridled fury. It pivoted sharply, lunging directly toward Sang Yongyi, who had fired the initial capture net.

“Sister Sang, duck!” Qiu Nan roared into his mic. “Number Six, Number Ten—suppress, suppress, suppress!”

Shouting the order three times in rapid succession, Qiu Nan surged forward from Xie Yunnian’s side like a sleek, agile leopard, snatching a shotgun right out of Mi Zhu’s hands as he passed.

He truly wasn’t fragile in the slightest.

Aside from the net launcher, Sang Yongyi carried only a standard sidearm. She decisively fired two rounds into NB-420, but the bullets failed to penetrate, serving only to further incense the beast.

Without a single pause, the monster’s dozens of eyes flashed with a murderous glint as it locked onto its human target and charged.

A barrage of gunfire erupted from the perimeter. The bullets ripped through the air and slammed into the monster’s hide, but the moment they made contact, their trajectories warped, and the slugs dropped harmlessly to the dirt.

It was completely unscathed.

Sprinting at full speed, Qiu Nan realized what was happening. Just as the creature was about to overtake Sang Yongyi, he lunged forward, tackling her to the ground and rolling violently to the side.

Simultaneously, he raised his weapon and pulled the trigger repeatedly. The automatic shotgun bucked, spewing plumes of acrid gunpowder smoke into the air. Even while throwing his body through a frantic roll, his grip remained as steady as an automated tracking mount, burying a relentless hail of buckshot directly into the monster’s cluster of eyes.

The creature shrieked in agony as several of its forward-facing eyeballs exploded into a spray of black blood, instantly blinding its frontal view and causing it to lose its target.

However, it quickly utilized the array of eyes at the back of its cranium to lock onto the remaining members of Squad Four.

Vice Captain Huo Honghai immediately spotted the creature’s exposed vulnerability, shouting into the comms, “Target the eyes!” before sprinting over to check on Qiu Nan and Sang Yongyi.

Qiu Nan scrambled up from the dirt in a disheveled state, his face smeared with grime as he panted heavily.

Rather than stopping to pull Sang Yongyi up, he took a few sharp steps back to open up distance, shoved his dangling earpiece securely back into his ear, and barked out the final command: “Authorized to terminate!”

Under the relentless, crushing barrage of gunfire, the blood-drenched NB-420 slammed violently into an empty SUV before fleeing deeper into the mountains.

Qiu Nan panted heavily, tapping his comms. “Captain Wu, Captain Wu. Target is heavily wounded and heading toward your perimeter. Prepare for interception!”

Monsters were inherently wary of humans. They typically confined their activities to areas far beyond human settlements—deep outside cities and rural towns. However, once they breached human territory, things became incredibly problematic; they would almost certainly turn hyper-aggressive and proceed to harm civilians.

Strictly speaking, this was an era where humans and monsters coexisted in a delicate peace, provided the creatures stayed out of human domains. If they crossed the line, they had to be captured, detained, studied, or terminated on the spot. That was exactly what the Monster Control Bureau was for.

Seeing that the monster had officially crossed out of Squad Four’s assigned sector, everyone relaxed slightly. Facing a B-rank entity with zero casualties was a phenomenal outcome.

One of the team members cheered loudly, “Captain, that was legendary! Your Alpha energy is off the charts!”

Qiu Nan shot him a look, thinking to himself, Alpha energy my ass.

Right now, all he wanted was to get as far away from the crowd as possible.

The suppressants in his system were rapidly wearing off. Having his Omega hormones disrupted by the monster meant his heat cycle was creeping up much earlier than anticipated; he needed to administer a booster shot immediately.

When they had tumbled to the ground a moment ago, Sang Yongyi had already started giving him a very strange look.

Qiu Nan licked his dry lips and began striding toward the cover of the woods.

Helping Sang Yongyi to her feet, Huo Honghai asked in confusion, “Captain, where are you going?”

“Taking a leak!” Qiu Nan waved a hand over his shoulder without turning around.

Huo Honghai let out a mocking chuckle. Suddenly, he wrinkled his nose and sniffed the air a couple of times. “Captain, did you secretly sneak a snack of dried mangoes again?”

Qiu Nan fumbled around in his tactical pockets, pulled out a small, travel-sized packet of dried mangoes, and tossed it backward. Huo Honghai caught it cleanly.

Xie Yunnian walked down from the elevated dirt slope where he had been observing, his gaze locked on Qiu Nan’s retreating figure as it vanished into the trees. An imperceptible smile played at the corners of his aloof lips.

Impressed.

For someone this remarkable to differentiate into an Omega, what a pity.