The Top-Tier Alpha Is Lured and Captured by a Green Tea Merman - Chapter 24

“But you…”

Watching his swaying body, Pei Yan couldn’t help but feel a bit worried.

Xie Yu stood up straight. “Brother, I can manage on my own.”

Seeing how determined he was, Pei Yan didn’t want to force him further and watched as he turned the corner into the adjacent hallway.

As the sense of oppression vanished, Xue Xu panted heavily, sweat pouring down his face. Amidst the astonished stares of the crowd, he wiped away the perspiration and lashed out at Pei Yan, shouting, “Damn it, you actually dared to use pheromones to suppress me?!”

Hearing his dog-like barking, Pei Yan frowned.

What a piece of work.

Xue Xu waved his hand, and the surrounding Alphas began to close in.

Pei Yan braced himself, but just as the sparks of conflict were about to ignite, a lighthearted voice drifted over, laced with amusement. “Commander Pei, what a coincidence.”

With a person he disliked appearing, Pei Yan’s mood soured even further. He didn’t answer Xie Yu, nor did he even bother to turn around to look at him.

A faint, clean fragrance drifted over. Something brushed gently back and forth against the side of his neck as a clear, low voice spoke right against his ear. “Commander Pei, have you run into some trouble?”

Pei Yan spun around abruptly to pull away, his disgust written clearly on his face.

What kind of habit was this?!

Why did this person always insist on sticking so close when speaking!

To the side, Xue Xu’s eyes had long since gone wide. Although he couldn’t see the man’s full features, he could tell from the aura surrounding him that this person was definitely a beauty—the kind with a proud streak. Dragging someone like that to bed would definitely be like handling a fiery little chili pepper.

But it was only fun that way.

Xue Xu’s wicked intentions rose again. He rubbed his palms together with a lecherous expression. “Little beauty, do you want to go play with big brother? It’s on me.”

Xie Yu lifted his eyelids slightly and shot him a glance.

In an instant, Xue Xu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. The blood that had been flowing through his body seemed to freeze solid; a bone-chilling cold spread inch by inch through his entire frame. He felt as though his body had turned to stone.

“Young Master Xue?”

The Alpha lackeys nearby, seeing him suddenly stop moving, called out in confusion.

Seeing no response, an Alpha leaned in closer and actually saw white spots condensed on Xue Xu’s eyelashes—the shape resembled snowflakes. As soon as the thought occurred, he found it absurd and immediately dismissed it.

How could that be? It was the height of summer.

The Alpha gave Xue Xu a light push, and his expression instantly stiffened. The place his finger touched was freezing and hard. More terrifyingly, Xue Xu fell straight forward following the force of the push.

Everyone present was shaken.

“Young Master Xue!”

The manager and the Alpha lackeys crowded around him.

“Heavens, why is Young Master Xue so cold? It feels like he’s about to freeze solid.”

“Quick, get a blanket! If he stays this frozen, he’s going to die.”

“Right, don’t forget to call for an ambulance!”

Everyone talked at once, chattering away as they began a rescue effort for Xue Xu.

Pei Yan was completely bewildered, but this had nothing to do with him. Right now, he only cared about one thing. He looked toward the restroom with concern. It had been so long; why hadn’t Xie Yu come out yet? Could he have passed out inside from the alcohol?

Thinking of this, Pei Yan prepared to head to the restroom to find him, but he was grabbed by the arm by the man who had been standing beside him watching the show. Pei Yan raised his eyes, a silent warning in his gaze.

Xie Yu immediately let go and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, his eyes crinkling with a smile. “Commander Pei, don’t be so hostile. I just wanted to tell you that there’s a lead on the case.”

“What lead?”

When it came to the case, Pei Yan immediately became serious.

“There.” Xie Yu pointed at the man lying on the ground. “It’s on him.”

Following the direction of his finger, Pei Yan focused his gaze on the person covered in layers of blankets. A memory of that hideous wound on the man’s body suddenly flashed through his mind.

Perhaps it wasn’t that the man’s body fat was thick, but rather… he had the self-healing ability inherent to Merfolk.

Seeing Pei Yan’s grave expression, Xie Yu knew he had likely figured it out. He bowed gallantly and extended a hand in invitation. “How about we pay a secret visit?”

Ignoring the hand held out before him, Pei Yan pondered for a moment. “Fine, but let me settle my partner first.”

Xie Yu froze for a moment. He savored those words in his heart, syllable by syllable, as the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably. Afraid that Pei Yan would notice, he pressed a fist to his lips and cleared his throat, feigning confusion. “Commander Pei… has a lover?”

Even though he had already confirmed his relationship with his brother, he still wanted to hear it directly from his brother’s mouth. He never tired of it; only by hearing it repeatedly could he feel a sense of reality—the feeling that his brother truly belonged to him.

“It has nothing to do with you.”

Pei Yan didn’t like discussing his private affairs with strangers, especially a man like this who was of unknown identity and appeared somewhat dangerous. He turned and headed down the hallway.

There was no need to drag Xie Yu into these matters; the boy only needed to live a good life under his protection.

“Is it that drunken Alpha? You two seem quite well-matched. Are you planning on a long-term development?”

Xie Yu followed behind, asking as if casually.

The person in front stopped and stared at him intently with dark eyes. “We are only in a temporary cooperative relationship. I hope neither side pries into the other’s private business, or else the cooperation will be terminated at any time.”

Knowing that his brother was trying to protect him, a stream of warmth flowed through Xie Yu’s heart, but in the next second, he felt a bit dejected. Even though he was currently the very person his brother was talking about, not only did his brother fail to recognize him, but he even seemed to dislike this version of him.

Did his brother only like the pure and cute version of him?

But regardless of the identity, they were all him. Before entering human society, Xie Yu had read many books; he remembered they said that loving someone meant embracing all of their personality traits.

Xie Yu suddenly felt inexplicably jealous of himself.

“Let’s follow them first!”

Seeing that Xue Xu wasn’t getting into the ambulance but was instead entering a private car, Pei Yan immediately grabbed Xie Yu’s arm and ran straight for his own vehicle. Before leaving, he instructed the manager, “Go check on the one in the restroom for me. See him safely back to the Pei residence. You will be handsomely rewarded later.”

With that, he pulled Xie Yu into the car and followed behind Xue Xu’s vehicle.

The car wound its way through various turns and eventually drove into a private research institute.

Pei Yan and Xie Yu exchanged a glance, both seeing their own thoughts reflected in the other’s eyes. He parked the car a short distance away and followed Xue Xu secretly into the institute.

“Uncle, save me…”

Xue Xu stood in front of a room door, unable to stop his wailing.

A few seconds later, a middle-aged man opened the door and stepped out. He pulled off his mask and furrowed his brows. “What is it now?”

“Uncle, my body seems to be having an abnormal reaction!”

“I felt inexplicably cold today. My body turned rock hard, and even my eyelashes frosted over in this heat…”

“Uncle, tell me, am I going to die?”

Xue Xu rattled off a string of words, sobbing as he clutched the middle-aged man’s arm like a drowning man clutching a life raft, his face filled with worry and terror.

Deep wrinkles appeared on the middle-aged man’s brow. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. For the results of their painstakingly researched experiments to show side effects was a very serious matter for the entire institute.

Logically, Merfolk blood only had healing properties. If consumed along with the flesh, it should ensure the individual possessed self-healing abilities for a long time.

Results verified by so many experiments shouldn’t be wrong. Could there be an issue with the drug synthesis?

“How about this: come with me to have your blood drawn and tested. We’ll see if there’s an issue with your blood.”

Seeing the man’s serious expression, Xue Xu knew that throwing a tantrum was useless. He gradually calmed down. “Okay, I’ll do whatever you say, Uncle.”

Then he hesitated. “Should I just eat the flesh and blood of those Merfolk directly? Didn’t the Royal Family just capture a few more Merfolk recently?”

Pei Yan was shaken upon hearing this.

He didn’t know whether to be shocked by the Royal Family’s purpose in capturing Merfolk or by their barbaric practice of eating Merfolk flesh and blood directly.

The middle-aged man remained frowning. “Let’s draw blood and wait for the results first.”

Seeing them talking as they walked over, Pei Yan and Xie Yu immediately vanished from the corner.

After leaving the institute, Pei Yan remained in a daze for a long time.

In contrast, Xie Yu was very calm. He leaned against the car with his arms crossed, gazing into the distance as if he had known this outcome all along. “What does Commander Pei intend to do?”

Pei Yan remained silent for a long while before making a decision. “I want to visit the Royal Research Institute.”

After all, this was the place he relied on and protected with all his heart. Although he had accepted the fact that the Royal Family wanted to kill him, he found it hard to believe they would commit such atrocities.

This was undoubtedly overturning and dismantling the loyalty and trust he had always held for the Royal Family.

While it was true the Royal Family captured Merfolk for research, it was supposedly only for those who came ashore and harmed humans, and primarily for the purpose of developing medicine to cure those infected by Zerg bites. Subjectively, it wasn’t supposed to be cold-blooded slaughter.

“I would be happy to accompany you,” Xie Yu said.

Pei Yan turned his head and said after some deliberation, “You don’t need to risk this with me. This matter shouldn’t have anything to do with you.”

“That is not the case.” Xie Yu smiled. “I am the leader of the Merfolk tribe. Rescuing my kin is my responsibility.”

Pei Yan’s eyes instantly widened.

Xie Yu stared at him, his pupils narrowing into sharp slits that glowed with an eerie blue light. “Of course, I hope Commander Pei can help me. After all, this conflict was started by your human race. I do not like war, but if humans continue to harm my kin without end, one day I will lead my entire race to declare war on humanity.”

Their gazes locked. A primal sense of oppression washed over him. Those beast-like eyes held a daunting, chilling light. Pei Yan’s heart skipped a beat, and his mind went momentarily blank. Hearing the end of the statement, he slowly lowered his eyes, his long lashes trembling uneasily.

In this matter, humans were indeed at fault.

They had always possessed a sense of superiority, believing they were higher beings and disregarding the races of other star systems. Their treatment of the Merfolk, who were not protected by the laws of the Imperial Alliance, was even more brutal and lawless.

But they had forgotten that Merfolk were ancient, mysterious creatures who possessed intelligence. When faced with injustice and suppression, they too would resist. Perhaps if they struck back with all their might, the Empire would be severely wounded.

Furthermore, the Zerg were watching like hawks. At the slightest sign of a vulnerability, they would seize the chance to invade. By then, the Empire would surely be attacked from both sides and face an immense crisis.

Having thought it through, Pei Yan looked up with determination. “I will investigate this matter thoroughly!”

Xie Yu curled his lips into a smile.

Even if he had forgotten everything, his brother was still his brother.