On the starship, Yun Chuji was in a dilemma.
She didn’t know whether to be mesmerized by the brilliant starry sky outside or to be on guard against Tang Jianxi, who was right beside her, taking liberties.
Yes, taking liberties. Yun Chuji couldn’t think of any other way to describe Tang Jianxi’s actions these past few days.
The day they returned from the Tang residence, Tang Jianxi had moved everything from Yun Chuji’s home to her own, not even sparing her bed. The beautiful excuse was that she could look at it if she ever missed it.
But what kind of proper person would miss a bed?
The only logical explanation was that Tang Jianxi wanted to reduce the chances of her leaving.
At the time, Yun Chuji had found it both funny and exasperating, even thinking that this side of Tang Jianxi, with her subtle little schemes, was rather cute.
Later, Yun Chuji discovered that she really did want to leave.
For no other reason than Tang Jianxi was too brazen.
In Yun Chuji’s experience, if one were to court another, it should, by all means, begin with writing poetry. Even when her elder brother pursued his confidante in the brothel, he would write a few poems.
Of course, this wasn’t to say Yun Chuji was expecting Tang Jianxi to court her this way. She had absolutely no such intention.
But, at the very least, she shouldn’t sit in her lap during pheromone soothing!
And at the very least, she shouldn’t steal a kiss while they were eating, or walking, or when she was dropping her off at work!
And on top of that, using the excuse of keeping up appearances for Auntie Chen, she insisted on holding her hand at all times when they were at home.
Was this courting?
Tang Jianxi didn’t even bother with a few sweet words!
Of course, Yun Chuji had absolutely no intention of wanting Tang Jianxi to say more sweet words.
At the same time, she was a little annoyed with herself. Why couldn’t she just refuse?
If she weren’t always so shyly speechless, how could Tang Jianxi have grown bolder and bolder, from cautiously sitting in her lap to now daring to tease her about her reactions?
Just like now, Tang Jianxi had taken her hand again.
Holding hands was nothing, really. They had done it often when they were pretending to be a couple.
But why did she have to rub it while holding it? It was so strange!
Yun Chuji looked down, not knowing what to say. So she said nothing at all, letting Tang Jianxi pull her all over the starship.
This was Tang Group’s private starship, and it was how Tang Jianxi had been able to spirit Helen and the others away without anyone knowing. After all, many of Tang Group’s shipments were of a confidential nature. Tang Jianxi’s reason for going to Cang Star this time also involved such confidential cargo.
As it happened, she was going to purchase a large quantity of Blue Cherry Steel.
In the Federation era, this metal, Blue Cherry Steel, was mainly circulated as a precious metal. In fact, one could guess its original function from its fancy name—crafting luxurious jewelry to empty the wallets of high-society ladies.
Back then, although Blue Cherry Steel was expensive, it wasn’t a universal equivalent of value, so it was merely a status symbol for the upper class to flaunt their wealth, far from being confidential.
It wasn’t until the ABO era that inhibitors became a necessity for omegas. Blue Cherry Steel, with its extremely stable properties, became the preferred material for containers when formulating inhibitors. This was also one of the reasons for the high price of inhibitors—the equipment was simply too expensive. And while Blue Cherry Steel didn’t react with the inhibitor components, it would gradually rust in that chemical environment, losing its original effectiveness.
Warm-O, on the other hand, used more primitive equipment to cut costs. Their use of Blue Cherry Steel was significantly lower, resulting in a more primitive final product. Coupled with their mediocre formula, the effectiveness of their inhibitors was disastrously poor.
However, standard inhibitor production machines didn’t require large amounts of Blue Cherry Steel. After initial formulation and dilution, the inhibitors could be placed in ordinary containers for the subsequent processing steps. Only high-grade military inhibitors, to ensure their effectiveness and prevent omegas in the military from going into heat during service, used reinforced materials. The resulting formula was more potent, and even the diluted solution had to be stored in Blue Cherry Steel containers, causing the demand for the metal to skyrocket.
What was unsettling was that the military’s inhibitor procurement volume had suddenly doubled this year. This was why Tang Jianxi was going to Cang Star to purchase Blue Cherry Steel. Tang Group’s reserves had been mostly depleted during the recent confrontation with Warm-O. To handle the military’s order and any potential moves from Warm-O, stockpiling a large amount of Blue Cherry Steel was now Tang Group’s wisest choice.
Of course, a matter like this wasn’t so major as to require the personal attention of the Tang family’s second daughter. Tang Jianxi had simply chosen this specific time—to make contact with Johansson in a legitimate way.
Johansson’s business was not large enough for him to partner with the Tang family, but the deal that had allowed him to firmly establish himself in Cang Star’s upper circles had come from Warm-O.
No wonder he was able to connect with Glory.
And as the second daughter of the Tang family, it was perfectly reasonable for her to meet with a few more mine owners. As for what she took from a mine owner’s home, or what she left behind, no one could predict.
At that moment, Tang Jianxi led Yun Chuji through a series of turns to the far left side of the starship. This was the leisure area, boasting the largest viewport on the entire vessel.
The stars and the darkness of the universe were presented before human eyes in unison. Such a vast spectacle, when viewed for too long, would inevitably instill a sense of fear.
Right in front of the viewport stood a woman dressed in black. She looked both young and old; the few traces of fatigue at the corners of her eyes made it difficult to discern her age, not to mention her unusually cold face. Her green eyes held a detachment similar to that of an arthropod.
Tang Jianxi walked to a sofa, asked the AI to bring Yun Chuji fruit and dessert, and then said to her, “You can enjoy the view here for a bit. I’ll be back to join you later.”
Yun Chuji nodded. But after Tang Jianxi turned and left, she didn’t obediently watch the scenery as instructed. Yun Chuji thought that if Zhuangzi or Qu Yuan were here, they would have joyfully splashed ink and written a timeless masterpiece. She, however, after an initial moment of awe, quickly returned to a state of calm.
But honestly, it was a bit awkward to ask someone who had been imprisoned for years to praise the world’s vastness and freedom.
So Yun Chuji lowered her head and continued to check the internal messages of Glory, occasionally replying with a supportive comment while keeping an eye out for any information about omega trafficking.
Yun Chuji didn’t have to pretend to be the original owner of the body in front of others. No matter how she acted, the prejudiced members of Glory would see it as an act anyway, and might even praise her for her excellent performance. But in her internal communications with Glory, she had to maintain the image of an alpha extremist. After training from Tang Jianxi and drawing on the original owner’s memories, Yun Chuji had more or less gotten the hang of it.
This group of alpha extremists seemed to utterly despise the omega gender, but strangely, in Glory’s internal chat room, they couldn’t go a sentence without mentioning omegas, as if they didn’t know how to start a conversation otherwise.
Just now, for instance, they started by talking about a popular omega celebrity on the StarNet, then moved on to how foolish omega fans were, and then to how the company behind that omega celebrity liked to pimp out its talent. They began to boldly speculate that this omega celebrity must have already been pimped out.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become famous so quickly.
Just then, an alpha who rarely spoke came online and sent a message: 【Soon】.
Soon? What was soon? Before Yun Chuji could even react, the group of alphas began to frantically send all sorts of worshipful messages.
Then it dawned on Yun Chuji. Suppressing her disgust, she followed the crowd and typed “Big brother is amazing” on her light brain.
Oh, right. This group of alphas had another characteristic: they worshipped successful alphas to an extreme degree.
On the other side of the hall, Tang Jianxi and Winona stood side by side, facing the pale cyan planet that was growing ever closer. Both their expressions grew more solemn.
Tang Jianxi said softly, “Are you sure you want to go with us to see Johansson?”
“You can stay on the starship. You can come over when we start negotiating with Helen.”
“Miss Tang, you don’t need to worry. In fact, I have more than enough experience in how to interact with people I despise the most.” As if to prove her point, Winona’s detached, icy demeanor melted away like snow in the spring breeze, replaced by an omega’s soft charm. In a voice as sweet as rock candy, she said, “I know that you and Miss Yun’s target isn’t just Johansson. You want the entire organization behind him to pay the price they deserve. If you need me to do anything during the process, you can command me as you wish. You must believe me, when it comes to prying open an alpha’s mouth and making them willingly spill their secrets, I also have more than enough experience.”
Tang Jianxi guessed Winona’s meaning. It was nothing more than the old trick she had used to successfully get the leader of the Lone Wolf Gang killed. A flicker of sadness crossed Tang Jianxi’s face, reflected in the viewport. The noble-looking omega tilted her head up slightly, looking towards a dazzling star in the distance. Its blinding fire would take billions of years to extinguish. In the grand history of the universe, all struggles seemed insignificant. She replied in a gentle voice, “Winona, don’t resort to sacrifice. As long as we haven’t reached a point where we will die without it, then don’t sacrifice yourself.”
“Becoming a hero is indeed admirable, but this is not an era for heroes. This is an era where the despicable hold power. Your sacrifice will only become their nourishment. If we cannot achieve victory, then no one will remember.”
“But without sacrifice, how can there be victory?”
“Winona, we have many ways to achieve victory. Sacrifice is just the most tragic one.”
“Weapons, intelligence, allies—these are also very good methods.”
Winona seemed to understand, yet not fully. She had only had six years of schooling. In the outermost ring, education was something that seemed most useful but was in fact the most useless. Without an education, you couldn’t leave the outermost ring, but with one, you couldn’t even survive there. In Winona’s memory, weapons, intelligence, and allies—these three things had always belonged to alphas. Their gang organizations, operating like precise machines, held the outermost ring firmly in their grasp, bleeding it dry.
And omega resistance could only be carried out through mutually destructive means.
But looking at the person beside her, who had grown up surrounded by the world’s flowers and applause, Winona found she couldn’t doubt the truth of her words. Perhaps there really was a group of omegas who possessed the tools of alpha domination.
Perhaps such an omega was standing right next to her.
Of course, the thought she dared not admit in her heart was: perhaps she could become such an omega too.
Perhaps Helen could become such an omega too.
Winona simply said, “If there is anything you need help with, please just let me know.”
Tang Jianxi didn’t answer that. She patted her on the shoulder and said, “Get some good rest. Make yourself look beautiful. Helen will be happier when she sees you. Maybe she’ll agree to leave with you without me having to say a thing.”
Winona’s green eyes widened like a startled kitten’s, but her ears turned a distinct shade of red.
Tang Jianxi chuckled softly and turned to find Yun Chuji.
When it came to her relationship with Yun Chuji, Miss Tang, who had just displayed extraordinary wisdom and earned Winona’s admiration, had to admit she had miscalculated.
She had originally thought it was just a confession, just a way to make Yun Chuji feel accepted by this world.
But she hadn’t expected to unleash the tiger within her own heart—Tang Jianxi could swear to the heavens that she hadn’t known she had such a thing in her before.
In short, even though they weren’t officially in a relationship, she couldn’t help but do things to Yun Chuji that should only be done after they were. How disrespectful—but then she’d think about how Yun Chuji was an alpha and she was an omega—actually, it was still a bit disrespectful.
But who could blame her when Yun Chuji herself didn’t refuse and even seemed to be enjoying it!
With that, Tang Jianxi felt perfectly justified, and her steps quickened as she walked towards Yun Chuji.
She leaned over that face and planted a kiss.
Yun Chuji was instantly pulled away from her light brain. She quickly covered her face with her hands and looked at the few scattered people nearby, her face so red it was practically steaming. “We’re in public!”
See? This was just too much of a challenge to a person’s self-control.
Tang Jianxi’s only annoyance now was that because they had to deal with Glory, they couldn’t be openly in a relationship. They still had to act out a scenario where a naive young lady was being lured into a web of love by a cunning alpha.
Ugh, the script was completely backward.
Seriously, why couldn’t those alphas just self-destruct? So annoying.
Seeing Tang Jianxi lost in thought, Yun Chuji pursed her lips and immediately stood up to walk towards her own quarters.
A scoundrel, Miss Yun fumed inwardly. Even if she’s a girl, she’s still a scoundrel.
“Hey?”
Tang Jianxi hurriedly chased after her. As if Yun Chuji’s reminder had been blown away by the wind, she stood on her toes and kissed her again.
“Oh, I was just savoring the moment!” she pleaded playfully.
Yun Chuji wiped her face fiercely and stopped, her expression serious as if she wanted to say something to her.
But in the end, she said nothing.
She just walked away even more hastily.
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