The Empire had been ruled by alpha emperors for a hundred years.
Clarence Hall gently stroked the royal crest on his sleeve, recalling what his omega tutor had once told him.
“Your Highness, according to the Imperial Law of Succession, you are eligible to ascend to that position.”
He had been very young then, and like many omegas, he loved beautiful clothes, wonderful music, and receiving praise from others.
He didn’t understand why his teacher was telling him this. In fact, he didn’t like her very much, because she always urged him to study tedious subjects like politics and history when he wanted to play.
Hah, it’s just a bunch of old men and women bragging to each other. What’s there to learn? he had thought with great defiance at the time.
But the day after his teacher said those words, she was no longer his teacher.
She even lost her teaching position at the Imperial University.
The official reason was her ineffective teaching; the young prince’s studies had become a complete mess under her tutelage.
But the new teacher was the one who was truly ineffective. That beta possessed the typical fence-sitter nature of his secondary gender, indifferent to the struggles between AOs, only concerned with how much he could profit from it.
He let Clarence go to concerts, let him organize lavish banquets, and let him dress himself up like a flower, before saying softly, “Your Highness will surely be the most popular omega when you grow up.”
How strange. If his previous omega teacher had said that, Clarence would have been overjoyed and would have dragged her along to his favorite concert.
But after hearing this beta’s flattery, Clarence had only replied coldly, “That is not within the scope of your duties, William.”
From then on, he began to study the politics and history he loathed. By piecing together some clues, he learned the real reason for his former teacher’s dismissal.
Clarence didn’t seek her out. He even concealed the fact that he remembered her at all. He continued to attend concerts and play the part of the impeccable prince at aristocratic banquets.
But in the shadows, his ambition swelled.
Thanks to his mother, the Empress’s, favor, he possessed many assets and a loyal staff.
He began his advance toward that position.
The Empire had been ruled by alpha emperors for a hundred years. Both omegas and betas were growing tired of an alpha emperor’s dictates.
So why couldn’t he become an omega emperor?
All he had to do was win the admiration of the Omega Legion and use a few little tricks to expose the foolishness of his brothers and sisters.
It was certainly dangerous, but no more dangerous than simply being an omega.
Clarence looked down at his comm and rejected his fiancé’s fourth invitation this month to visit Qinglan Star. The weary yet crazed face of his aunt—Winnie Hall—appeared in his mind. He had no desire to end up like her. His aunt had trusted the promises of alphas too much. First, she trusted her alpha sister, and then she trusted her alpha husband. In the end, both of them betrayed her.
This was the fate of a kind omega.
Clarence opened a hidden corner of his comm and made a call.
“Marco, is the matter with J.K. handled?”
“Just as you predicted, Qi Sheng has Johnsen under control. The other mining merchants on Cangxing Star are either unwilling to offend the Tang family or have been suppressed by Johnsen to the point where they can’t handle Warm-O’s business needs. As for the rest, I will speak with them privately.”
“Mm, very good. This should earn me some goodwill from the Legion without overly provoking that pack of alphas.”
Marco smiled at his words, his eyes full of admiration. “You will surely lead the Empire to a better future.”
“This is just the beginning. Even the Legion doesn’t dare to touch Glory, terrified it might trigger a second Activation War. That fool Lucia is roasting herself over a fire without even knowing it, still thinking that position is within her grasp.”
Hearing Clarence mention his fiancée and that nest of vipers, Marco instinctively showed his disgust, a hint of emotion coloring his voice. “Once you ascend to that position, you will surely bring those beasts to justice!”
Clarence raised an eyebrow, his angelic face holding an equally angelic calm. “Of course. We just need to wait a little longer. Their sins will devour them automatically.”
Not long after, the internal management committee of Spartacus released a notice: 【Mr. Marco Davis has successfully cut off Warm-O’s sole supplier of Blue Cherry Steel. At the same time, Mr. Qi Sheng of J.K. will be joining Spartacus to fight for the future of omegas.】
The moment the notice was released, omegas were ecstatic. They had long wanted to teach Warm-O a lesson. It was because of them that inferior inhibitors had flooded the entire Empire, leading to a fifty percent increase in the rate of accidental markings among omegas. And yet, so many poor, foolish omegas still sang Warm-O’s praises, completely unaware that what they were trying to sever was the future of all omegas.
Of course, if their brilliant leader hadn’t explained the underlying connections to them one by one, they would never have known that a mere inferior inhibitor was tied to the Omega Legion. The Legion’s core strength was mostly drawn from omegas in the fifth to tenth rings, and the free inhibitors provided by the military were the very reason countless omegas from impoverished families enlisted. Moreover, Warm-O’s sinister intentions didn’t stop there. Long-term use of inferior inhibitors would affect an omega’s body. Their already delicate constitutions would be further weakened by fighting the residual impulses of their heat periods, making it impossible for them to pass the military’s screening.
So, thank you, brilliant leader!
Thank you, Marco Davis!
While the committee members were discussing how to share this good news with the other members of the organization, Tang Jianxi, watching all this from Cangxing Star, found it all utterly absurd.
If Qi Sheng had joined Spartacus, he would have certainly told Marco about Glory. There was no reason for Qi Sheng to hide it. He wasn’t an alpha, and besides Johnsen, none of his family had any connection to Glory. And this was an organization dedicated to omega rights.
To take a step back, he had even told her. Why wouldn’t he tell Marco, with whom he was clearly much closer?
Then why was Marco hiding this matter?
To protect his cousin and the reputation of the Davis family?
Tang Jianxi called Marco.
He answered. On the screen, Marco’s red hair was dazzling. A strange thought crossed Tang Jianxi’s mind: was his heart as red as his hair?
“Marco, what’s this about Qi Sheng?”
Facing Tang Jianxi, Marco didn’t hide the truth—or rather, he didn’t hide most of it. “That bastard Johnsen was caught cheating by Qi Sheng. He wants to imprison Johnsen, and Spartacus can help him. We can also help him take control of J.K. So, he’s our brother now.”
“Cheating?”
Marco’s eyes darted away, and he coughed. “Just the usual despicable alpha behavior. He was keeping a few omegas on the side. Qi Sheng has already dealt with them.”
“How did he deal with them?”
“Why are you so curious today?” Marco’s words were evasive. “It’s nothing. He just sent them away from Cangxing Star.”
Tang Jianxi nodded, her expression calm, and then asked, “Does the leader know about Qi Sheng?”
“Of course!” Marco’s voice suddenly became animated. “This was all the leader’s arrangement!”
“I see. The leader is as wise as ever.”
“Isn’t he? See, this has been a great help to your Tang family.”
Tang Jianxi was silent for a moment, then looked at Marco and said, “This is helping omegas.”
“Ah, right!” Marco slapped his own mouth and said with a smile, “I’ve been in social circles for too long. I always blurt out these platitudes subconsciously. My apologies.”
“It’s nothing. Well, I’ll hang up now. I need to tell my brother about the changes at J.K.”
“Go on, you’re busy.”
Tang Jianxi turned off her comm and lay back on the bed.
She felt a mess.
She wasn’t particularly active in Spartacus. Although she was on the management committee, she guessed it was mostly due to her status as the second daughter of the Tang family and the granddaughter of the Chu family. She hadn’t fulfilled many managerial duties. She wasn’t the type who was good at winning people over, giving passionate speeches, or igniting the flames of resistance in omegas. She wasn’t very good at that sort of thing.
She was more accustomed to developing medicines to help omegas overcome their physiological weaknesses and establishing omega foundations.
Therefore, her reputation within Spartacus wasn’t particularly dazzling.
But she was content. In this organization, everyone worked together to break the cage that confined omegas, angered by the injustices they suffered. They were doing something right, unlike the official omega rights organizations, which were mired in conspiracies and bureaucracy and often accomplished nothing.
But were they really so different?
She wasn’t unaware of Clarence’s determination to contend for the throne, and she was prepared for him to use certain tactics in the process. She had even harbored suspicions about his private relationship with her brother, wondering how much of it was genuine affection and how much was exploitation.
But how could he be so indifferent to the matter of Glory?
Tang Jianxi hadn’t told many people about Glory, not even Spartacus. Glory’s roots ran deep, entangled with many noble families in the Empire. Tang Jianxi didn’t want to drag them into this vortex.
Of course, an unacknowledged fear was that although Spartacus was historically the name of a slave rebellion, in the present day, most of the omegas within Spartacus came from privileged families, many holding noble titles. Would they risk themselves for the omegas at the bottom?
Tang Jianxi didn’t know.
But she knew that she could. As the granddaughter of the Chu family, she naturally had the standing, so she was willing to bear this burden alone.
However, that didn’t mean she could truly accept her comrades making such a cold-blooded choice. It only proved that her previous deliberate concealment was, in fact, merely to avoid this very outcome: to avoid seeing her comrades choose self-interest over humanity without a moment’s hesitation.
Spartacus—was it fighting for the freedom of all omegas, or for the freedom of Spartacus?
What an embarrassing question.
Just then, the door was pushed open.
Yun Chuji walked in. “I knocked earlier, but you didn’t answer. I called you, but you didn’t pick up. I was worried something had happened to you…”
Seeing Tang Jianxi’s pale face, Yun Chuji immediately fell silent. She walked over, knelt by the bed, and poured her a glass of warm water.
She asked softly, “Are you okay?”
She had looked like this after checking her comm. She’d said she was going to her room to rest for a bit, but she looked even worse now.
Tang Jianxi sat up halfway and drank the water.
She stared at the glass in mid-air for a while.
Suddenly, she understood something. A cheerful smile spread across her face, looking somewhat eerie on her pale features. “Weren’t we worried before that we couldn’t pose a sufficient threat to Johnsen?”
“Now someone has solved that problem for us.”
“We’ll be able to catch that group of disgusting alphas very soon.”
Yun Chuji didn’t speak, nor did she express any excitement or joy. She sat on the bed, leaned forward, and wrapped her arms around Tang Jianxi’s shoulders, pulling her into an embrace.
The alpha gently stroked the omega’s thin back, peeled off the inhibitor patch on her nape, and a soothing pheromone drifted through the air.
“You look terrible right now. You look so sad.”
“Let’s not talk about this for now. You should get some proper rest.”
“Jianxi… everything will pass.”
Tang Jianxi leaned against Yun Chuji’s chest, curling up to get closer to the sound of her heartbeat.
Yun Chuji continued to stroke Tang Jianxi’s back.
At the same time, she felt the fabric over her heart grow damp.
Yun Chuji’s movements paused for a moment. Then she lowered her head and gently kissed Tang Jianxi’s forehead.
Hopefully, this would make her a little happier.
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