The Only Ultimate Alpha in the Universe - Chapter 1

Xiao Sa awoke in the middle of a bone-chilling night. His bones felt as if they had been crushed by a massive weight, and his brain throbbed with the dull, lingering ache of a severe concussion.

He slowly opened his eyes and reached out, only to strike two hard steel bars. The icy touch snapped him into full alertness.

He was locked in an iron cage.

Xiao Sa squinted, leaning against the side of the cage as he surveyed his surroundings. It appeared to be a storage bay on a spaceship, cluttered with metal crates and canned goods of questionable expiration dates.

His body was covered in bruises and cuts from some violent impact. His clothes were tattered and filthy, caked in dust and stone chips. Xiao Sa reached down to touch his chest; beneath his palm, he felt a vigorous, powerful heartbeat.

Memories from before he lost consciousness began to flood back.

The interstellar ship he was on had crashed. It had gone down on an unknown, alien planet.

The good news: someone had saved him. The bad news: he was a prisoner.

The Star-Power Gem he wore around his neck was gone. The fate of his kinsmen who were traveling with him was unknown. And three meters away, there was a living “alien.”

Still, in a stroke of luck amidst misfortune, he was alive.

A thin, small man was dozing off by the door. Xiao Sa cautiously observed this “alien” being. Aside from being somewhat shorter, the man’s physical structure and features were similar to his own. However, there was almost no scent of pheromones coming from him. If he weren’t certain they weren’t of the same race, Xiao Sa might have mistaken him for a Beta.

Xiao Sa was an Alpha. On his home planet, society was composed of the backbone strength of Betas, the rare and precious Omegas, and the Alphas—the rulers at the top of the pyramid. And Xiao Sa, an S-rank, was the elite among elites.

The dozing guard’s head snapped down, accidentally bumping against the doorframe. He jerked awake, his eyes meeting Xiao Sa’s scrutinizing gaze from across the cage.

The guard jumped, nearly leaping out of his skin. He instinctively raised a laser pistol, aiming it at Xiao Sa while staring warily. “When did you wake up? Who are you? Why did you show up near our base?”

Xiao Sa: “…” Crap. I can’t understand alien languages.

He tilted his head. He didn’t understand a single word of the guard’s gibberish, though he could guess the general gist: Who are you? Where did you come from? Where are you going?

Seeing the strange prisoner in the cage remain silent, merely staring back, the guard frowned in confusion.

“Why aren’t you talking?” he muttered to himself. “Don’t tell me he’s a mute…”

The guard glanced at the sturdy chains on the cage lock. He took two steps closer and rapped the barrel of his gun against the bars, growing impatient. “Cooperatively now, don’t play mute. Our captain is coming to interrogate you soon, and his methods are brutal.”

Seeing that Xiao Sa still didn’t respond, the guard curled his lip and turned to activate his communicator.

Unexpectedly, a pair of hands shot out like lightning through the gaps in the bars.

The laser pistol in the guard’s hand was yanked aside by an irresistible force, causing him to lose his balance. He fell forward, slamming hard against the iron cage!

A pair of hands like iron shackles seized him: one clamped onto his gun-holding wrist, the other ruthlessly throttled his throat.

With a clatter, the laser pistol fell to the floor. Xiao Sa’s grip remained unmoving, as if his injuries hadn’t hampered him in the slightest.

“The key. Open the cage.”

The guard heard a deep voice coming from the left side of his head, but the pronunciation consisted of words he couldn’t understand at all.

“Wh—what?”

Language barriers are such a hassle. Xiao Sa shook his head regretfully. Just as he was about to choke the man unconscious, a sudden sense of threat surged from behind him!

“Awoo!”

A sharp bark accompanied a gust of wind aimed straight for the back of his neck. At the critical moment, Xiao Sa tilted his head slightly, narrowly dodging the unheralded, lethal strike.

A pale orange canine looking much like a fennec fox slammed into the iron cage. It bounced back nimbly, baring its teeth and snarling at Xiao Sa.

Where did this fennec fox come from?

Before he could think, the fox launched a second attack. Its fangs and claws instantly grew long and sharp, hard as steel needles. It moved with incredible agility; in the cramped cage, there was nowhere to hide—especially since Xiao Sa was still holding a live human.

Xiao Sa’s brow knit slightly. The pheromones released from his body suddenly became so dense they were almost viscous. Every pore seemed to exude a suffocating pressure of aggression, deterrence, and death.

The fennec fox felt as if it had crashed into a deep, dark mire; it could barely move a limb.

Xiao Sa remained in a half-crouch, steady as a mountain. His eyes, however, were like those of a predator at the top of the food chain, staring at a piece of prey.

The absolute suppression of a top-tier Alpha’s pheromones over a low-level “Spiritual Body” was silent and invisible. The guard, who couldn’t receive pheromones, couldn’t feel it directly. But his C-rank little fox had nerves strained to the breaking point; its pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and every hair on its body was standing on end, shivering. It telegraphed pure terror and a mournful plea to its master.

Guard: “…” His head was full of question marks. Is a C-rank Spiritual Body really this pathetic?

In that moment of distraction, Xiao Sa reached for the guard’s waistband. The guard jerked in shock. What is this pervert doing?!

Xiao Sa quickly pulled out the man’s leather belt and used it to bind his hands behind his back to the cage bars.

The guard’s throat, now sporting handprints, was finally free. He shouted angrily, “Don’t think this can hold me! The key is with our captain! You can’t escape!”

“He’ll find out something is wrong in a minute! If you know what’s good for you.”

Halfway through, he stopped, his eyes bulging. He watched as Xiao Sa gripped the bars and used the strength in both arms to wrench them apart. He bent the solid metal into a wide arc, creating a gap large enough to casually stroll out of the cage.

Guard: “!!!”

He stared at Xiao Sa, dumbfounded. Are you kidding me? That’s an alloy! What kind of terrifying arm strength is that?!

Xiao Sa crouched in front of him, his gaze indifferent as it moved from the man’s face to the little fox. He picked the creature up by the scruff of its neck and let out a string of universal human vocalizations:

“Pspspsps.”

The little fox instinctively perked up its ears and couldn’t help but steal a glance at him before tucking its tail between its legs.

Guard: “…”

Mockery. This is blatant mockery! This damned, thrice-cursed foreigner! He actually dared to treat my Spiritual Body like a pet dog!

“Your little pet is in my hands. I need medicine, bandages, and food.” Xiao Sa shook the fennec fox slightly by its scruff and pointed to his mouth, his wounds, and his stomach.

The guard couldn’t understand the words, but he guessed the general idea from the gestures. Fortunately, these items weren’t scarce; the adjacent storage room happened to have some.

After getting the supplies, Xiao Sa didn’t say another word. He picked up the dropped laser pistol and knocked the guard out with a swift hand-chop. The moment the man lost consciousness, the fennec fox vanished into thin air from Xiao Sa’s hand.

“Tsk. Is this some kind of special ability?” Xiao Sa rubbed his chin, feeling a sense of wonder.

Though people in this star sector didn’t have glands or pheromones like his people, and lacked the powerful bodies of Alphas, they possessed a unique skill similar to summoning a combat pet. It reminded him of a cartoon he’d seen as a child—Mystical Pets—where characters raised exclusive partners to fight alongside them. He never expected that one day, his childhood dreams would become reality.

At the same time, in the Captain’s Quarters of the “Broken Peak” Star Pirate Group.

The leader, “Broken Peak,” sat in a large black leather chair, holding a massive purple gem. His sharp, wolf-like grey eyes were focused intently on this mysterious loot.

This pirate chief, known as Broken Peak, had a dignified face that didn’t match his fierce reputation. His physique was tall and powerful, though his right leg turned outward unnaturally when bent.

Several others stood around, staring curiously. Someone asked, “Boss, this thing must be worth a lot, right? Could we trade it for a Universe-class battleship? At the very least, we could replace this battered Star-class main ship we’re using.”

“Perhaps,” Broken Peak tossed the gem necklace back into the treasure chest. “By the way, how is that suspicious guy we picked up?”

The deputy leader, Deken, was about to answer when a piercing alarm blared: “Enemy attack—Enemy attack!!”

Broken Peak’s face paled. He lunged up from his chair. A sudden explosion and a violent impact sent everyone staggering, nearly knocking them off their feet.

The main ship began to tilt. Broken Peak roared, striding with his unnatural right leg toward the command console. “Everyone to your stations! Locate the enemy and return fire immediately!”

A scout rushed in to report, his face a mask of panic. “Boss! A stealth warship suddenly appeared on radar! I think… it’s a Super-class ship from the Empire’s Third Legion!”

A Super-class ship was a vessel only high-ranking Admirals were qualified to command. It possessed full-spectrum stealth capabilities and was equipped with a super-heavy plasma main cannon, twenty giant diameter annihilation cannons, and hundreds of A-rank combat mechas. Combined with a battleship group, it could declare war on any small or medium-sized nation.

The leader, Broken Peak, stared at the massive, blinking red dot on the radar. He sneered. “Using such a devastating weapon against a group of remnants like us? The Empire certainly thinks highly of us!”

The deputy suddenly shouted, “Boss! They’re requesting a communication link!”

Broken Peak said deeply, “Connect it!”

The holographic display area instantly showed the bust of a blonde officer. It was the commander of the Dawn Empire’s Third Legion—the man known as the “Blade of the Empire,” Admiral Landis Wenser.

Seeing him personally made everyone’s hearts sink.

Admiral Landis’s ice-blue eyes looked down at the pirates, his tone calm yet chillingly sharp. “You cannot escape. Surrender is your only option.”

The pirates in the room were furious; some had already started cursing. Landis ignored them, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at the dead. He continued to read the death sentence at an unhurried pace: “You have one minute to raise the white flag. Otherwise, bear the consequences, traitors of the Empire.”

Broken Peak looked up at him and said coldly, “Since we chose this path, we would rather die than surrender. Admiral Landis, must you be so thorough? Grant us a path to live, and you can name your price.”

Landis’s slender fingers lightly pressed the brim of his military cap, the golden emblem shining. “The weak have no right to negotiate with me.”

With that, the hologram cut out, leaving the room in a heavy silence.

“Boss, this guy is too arrogant! Let’s fight him!” “Exactly! So what if it’s a Super-class ship? If we can get close enough, we can still rip a layer of skin off him!”

Broken Peak signaled them to stop shouting. He instinctively gripped his right leg, his fingers digging in. “They only brought one main ship. Their escort battleships haven’t arrived yet. We have a chance to escape.”

“Pass the order! Prepare for a bloody breakthrough!”

Admiral Landis of the Third Legion promised one minute for surrender, and he was perfectly punctual. As the sixtieth second passed, the attack began.

Swarms of mechas flew out from the open hangar, clashing head-on with the pirate group’s combat mechas.

Seeing the battle turn into a rout, the deputy said anxiously, “Boss, at this rate, we’ll be wiped out!”

“What’s the panic?” Broken Peak frowned. “Order the main ship to switch to auto-attack mode to cover our retreat. Everyone, abandon the main ship! Scramble into the backup escape pods and disperse—”

The deputy stared at him in shock. “The main ship’s central psychic control system is linked to your Spiritual Body. If you abandon it, then you…”

Broken Peak sighed and donned his specialized exoskeleton armor. At that moment, a section of his right leg was exposed, it featured scales and sharp spikes that were distinctly non-human.

The deputy’s eyes widened, staring at that lower leg as if seeing a ghost. His voice trembled. “Boss, you—”

Organ Mutation. This was clearly a sign of spiritual pollution leading to a backlash from the Spiritual Body!

Their leader possessed 3A-rank psychic power. In the Empire, aside from the rare S-ranks at the top, 3A was an extremely powerful level, capable of directly piloting Universe-class ships and mechas. Yet, despite his strength, even the leader couldn’t escape spiritual pollution and genetic collapse. He was descending into “Erosion,” being consumed by his own Spiritual Body and turning into a slaughtering beast.

“Once mutation starts, it cannot be reversed. My control over the main ship was already on the verge of collapse; this is just putting it to good use.” Broken Peak looked down at his hideous right leg and gave a self-deprecating smile. “Fortunately, as long as I can distract Landis, most of the brothers can get away. Take the treasures we’ve gathered and sell them at Central Star. We’ll just buy a new ship later.”

The deputy’s eyes reddened as he lowered his head in silence.

Meanwhile, Xiao Sa had just escaped his iron cage when the pirate group and the Third Legion entered a state of intense combat.

He hadn’t figured out what was going on yet; he only saw the flashing red alarm lights and heard the evacuation orders he couldn’t understand echoing from the ceiling.

Fortunately, he wasn’t blind. Xiao Sa stared out the porthole at the Third Legion mechas beginning to board the ship, his brow furrowing.

Out of the tiger’s den and into the wolf’s lair…

The heavy injuries in his body began to throb again. He could already hear the mechanical footsteps of mechas in the hallway. Xiao Sa had a sudden flash of inspiration and returned to the storage bay where he was originally held.

The guard he had knocked out had missed the evacuation order and had just been jarred awake by the sound of explosions. Before the guard could figure out what was happening, the door slammed open again. A familiar face, a familiar figure—that damned terrorist was back?!

Heavens, let a man live!

Xiao Sa ignored the guard and the shivering fennec fox in the man’s arms. He stuffed the depleted laser pistol back into the guard’s hands.

Then, he walked straight to the iron cage, slipped through the gap in the bent bars, and used his arm strength to pull the metal back into its original shape.

Guard: “???” Is this terrorist’s brain broken? He’s turning himself back in?

After finishing this, Xiao Sa looked as if he had exhausted the last of his strength. He slumped into the cold cage and closed his eyes. The bandages on his body began to seep blood again. He looked exactly like a weak, defenseless salted fish on a chopping board.

Just then, elite soldiers from the Third Legion took control of the ship. A small squad burst into the storage room with guns leveled. They froze upon seeing the guard and Xiao Sa.

One was wearing a pirate combat uniform and holding a gun; the other was locked in a cage, covered in dirt and blood, looking like a heavily tortured hostage on the brink of death.

The leading soldier activated his communicator: “Commander Landis, we found two survivors. One pirate and one prisoner!”

The pirate holding the gun with a dozen lasers aimed at his head: “…” I feel like something is very wrong here!

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