When an ordinary child is born, what is their earliest understanding of the world? Is it a world of blue skies and white clouds? Or loving parents?
Yan Qiongyu’s understanding of the world was Yan Mu—this mother who, from the moment he opened his eyes to see the world, was like a shroud of gloom hanging over his head.
Although he had never seen her when he was very young, her name appeared in every instance of pain when he was treated cruelly.
The first time he saw Yan Mu through an image was after the man from the Utopia had tried several times to kill him and failed.
Perhaps having acknowledged his intelligence, and thinking that this discarded tool might still be of use, Yan Mu, through that man, casually conveyed an image to him.
“Al said you inherited my 3S mental power talent, and that you’re also very smart.” The woman in the image sat on a chair, a lazy cat cradled in her arms, her tone exceedingly gentle. “My child, if you truly resemble me, then I believe that one day you will come to see me, because that place cannot trap you.”
With a gentle yet casual tone, she made an agreement with him: when he reached adulthood, he was to go to the Utopia with news of his biological father, prove his value, and then this mother of his would accept him and help him.
“If you succeed, I will personally go to welcome you. If you do not succeed… if you cannot even accomplish this much, then it can only prove that abandoning you back then was an entirely correct choice.”
The smile that appeared on that face so similar to his own was deeply imprinted in Yan Qiongyu’s mind.
Perhaps it was from that time on that he also learned to show a smile to everyone, appearing especially gentle and sincere, yet actually hiding a smile of deep coldness.
Because of Yan Mu’s lenient agreement that spared him, the man who had wanted to kill him left. After that, Yan Qiongyu never again received any news from Yan Mu; that message seemed like nothing more than a joke she had sent out of boredom.
Only, as he grew up, every time he saw his own smiling face in the mirror, it was as if he saw Yan Mu, reminding him of this matter.
Countless times he thought that he must go to the Utopia and then personally kill Yan Mu, otherwise he would never obtain freedom of the heart.
He detested conversing with those arrogant and foolish noble omegas in the omega academy, and conversing with the simple and timid commoner omegas could not be called pleasant either.
Thinking this way, he probed for and gathered information from the mouths of those noble omegas, using the omega classmates gathered around him to conceal himself.
And there was Doctor Hu Qingyu, as well as others.
He expended a great deal of effort to collect information about Yan Mu without arousing anyone’s notice or suspicion, and in the end narrowed it down to several alphas suspected of being his biological father.
But was this enough? The eighteen-year-old Yan Qiongyu asked himself. Of course it was not enough.
Starting from his marriage, he carried out the final confirmation.
Several princes and princesses were interested in him, especially the Seventh Princess. He believed the Seventh Princess should have mentioned his marriage to His Majesty, yet in the end he successfully finalized an engagement with Wang Luan of the Wang family.
Why was the most outstanding thing not enjoyed by the royal family?
Yan Qiongyu understood. Perhaps he himself possessed royal blood.
Among the four candidates he had narrowed it down to—the Li family head, the Hei family head, the genetic genius Weierting, and the Luxin Prince Qing Jiangxi—the Luxin Prince was the most suspicious.
However, he was accustomed to verification, so he decided to test every suspect once, until he obtained a definite answer.
Step by step, he followed his plan to reach the present, with not many things exceeding his expectations, except for one thing.
At this moment, it was not the end. On the contrary, what he truly wanted to do was only now beginning.
Yan Qiongyu inhaled the scent of blood, leaned back in his chair with his head raised and closed his eyes to rest, until the awakened Yun Li supported her head, pushed open the cabin door, and saw the room full of blood and the headless corpse of the Luxin Prince.
She stood stiffly by the doorway and shrieked, “You! How could you kill the Luxin Prince!”
Though he was a piece of trash, he still had utilitarian value. Over these years, omegas from the Utopia had been inserted into the imperial capital through this piece of trash more than a few times. Most importantly, the god of the Utopia had not yet ordered his death—how could he be killed just like this?
Yan Qiongyu raised his head and lightly kicked with the tip of his foot, sending the round, bundled object by his feet rolling to the doorway, where it struck Yun Li’s leg.
“Because I want to.” Yan Qiongyu walked toward her. Indifferently, he placed fingers stained with dried blood on Yun Li’s shoulder. “Why bother caring about such a trivial matter—come, tell me about the Utopia. I’m very much looking forward to it.”
After speaking, he released Yun Li’s stiff shoulder and walked out. Though Yun Li’s expression was ugly, she still called after him, “Then what about Wang Luan? Where did she go?”
Yan Qiongyu stopped, revealing a smiling profile. “Dealt with.”
ততততততততততত
The Wang Luan who had been “dealt with” was at this moment in a remote, narrow temporary inn. She removed the beautiful, ornate clothes she was wearing, preparing to change into a set of ordinary clothing.
After taking off her top, she thought of a small wound on her back and subconsciously looked at herself in the mirror.
A white healing patch was stuck to her waist. At some point unknown, someone had written the character “Yu” on it with medicinal liquid. It was the Huaxia script she was familiar with.
Looking all proper while removing chips and treating small wounds for people, yet still pulling little tricks in the end.
Touching the edge of the healing patch, Wang Luan subconsciously lowered her eyes and smiled, then slowly withdrew that smile.
They probably would never meet again.
She tore off the healing patch on her waist.
ততততততততততত
After another two days of flight, the airship Yan Qiongyu was on finally stopped at a starport.
This place was already very far from the Imperial Capital Star Ring, but because there were many mining stars nearby, it was not as barren as ordinary fringe planets. All kinds of airships, flying craft, and transport ships came and went through the starport.
Even without Yun Li saying anything, Yan Qiongyu knew this already belonged to the Southern Seven Star Region. The Empire’s control over these areas was far from sufficient; instead, various local forces competed for resources, divided territory, and chaotic star pirates and bandits ran rampant.
Naturally, there were none of the Imperial Capital’s carefully tended flowers and plants, nor its automatically regulated temperature and air. Stepping onto this land, the streets and buildings were all gray and drab, and because of the proximity to various mines, there was an inescapable pungent odor.
Most of those moving through the dilapidated starport were betas, followed by burly alphas; omegas were basically nonexistent.
Thus, as Yan Qiongyu and Yun Li walked along, they attracted a great deal of attention—especially Yan Qiongyu. Even with his face covered, the bearing cultivated over many years set him apart.
After passing through the most chaotic part of the port and reaching a relatively quiet street, the number of people staring straight at Yan Qiongyu finally decreased.
“The Godmother is waiting for you inside.” Yun Li led him to a completely unremarkable house.
The core of the Utopia was a theocratic cult created by Yan Mu. Its doctrine roughly held that omegas born with the ability to bear children were the true offspring of the god, incarnations of the god’s bones and blood, and that she was the spokesperson of the Mother Goddess who led ignorant omegas to obtain power. Thus, the people of the Utopia called her the Godmother. This was what Yun Li had told him on the way here.
An unexpectedly crude scam of rhetoric—but seeing that Yan Mu had been able to create an Utopia, it was clear that the simpler the rhetoric, the easier it was to succeed.
Yan Qiongyu sized up the small house before him, guessing that this was probably a temporary lodging for Yan Mu. He did not think she would bring him to her base at their first meeting.
He walked into the house. The interior was plainly furnished and clean. A well-maintained woman sat by the window basking in the sun, a lazy black cat lying at her feet—the scene looked warm and ordinary.
The woman had a naturally blessed beautiful face; even time seemed to favor her, leaving few marks upon it. She wore clothing in muted, elegant colors. From head to toe, the only thing that was not ordinary was a monocle perched over her eye, with a silver chain at one end connected to a circular metal piece affixed at her temple.
Hearing the door open, she turned her head and smiled. “Child, come here.”
Just like an ordinary mother waiting for her child to come home.
Only, they were far too alike. As he had years ago, Yan Qiongyu recognized at a glance the coldness and appraisal hidden within her gentle eyes.
The smile on his face was exactly the same as hers. He stepped forward and greeted her, “Mother, this is our first meeting. This is my gift. I hope you will be satisfied.”
A spherical bundle swimming in blood, exuding a rancid stench, was placed before Yan Mu. Her gaze lingered on it for less than a second before she coldly looked away, continuing to watch Yan Qiongyu as she said with layered meaning, “Of course I’m satisfied. You did more than I asked.”
Two similar faces—one more delicate, one more handsome—stood in silent opposition, yet also like an intimate mother and son, exchanging casual words.
“You suffered before. Now that you’ve finally come home, Mother is very happy as well. We have many companions. You no longer need to worry or be afraid. Here, no alpha can hurt you.”
“Then when will Mother take me to meet those companions,” Yan Qiongyu said as he held her hand, his expression full of filial admiration, his tone pressing, “and when can you take me to see the true Utopia?”
“Hey, aren’t you being too impatient? You just arrived and already want to go to our homeland. Who knows whether you’ll ruin our affairs—at the very least, you should show a bit more sincerity.” A young girl stepped out from the side, glaring at him with hostility, then turned to Yan Mu and put on a sweet smile. “Right, Godmother?”
Yan Mu only smiled. “Qin Ling, he is my child. Wanting to see the place where his mother lives—this small wish is not excessive.”
The girl named Qin Ling immediately stamped her foot and fell silent, but the look she cast at Yan Qiongyu grew even more vicious.
“You just came from the Imperial Capital. I originally wanted you to adapt here for a period of time, but since you’ve asked, then let’s go now.” Yan Mu soothingly patted Qin Ling’s hand, then spoke to Yan Qiongyu, behaving like a mother doting on her child.
They boarded another small craft, and after a brief flight arrived at another mining star.
The greatest difference between this place and the previous mining star was that there were many alphas here. Every alpha wore the same miner’s uniform, with a collar fastened around the neck.
From afar, when they saw Yan Qiongyu and the others, they quickly avoided them; no one even raised their head to look.
Qin Ling muttered with disgust, “Filthy wild dogs.”
A small town of red roofs and white walls appeared ahead. Many omegas dressed in beautiful clothes walked and chatted in the streets.
Some held flowers in their arms; some enjoyed tea and snacks by the roadside. The atmosphere was leisurely, like any ordinary town—if not for the fact that they were holding leashes in their hands.
At the other end of the leashes were not dogs, but one bound alpha after another. These alphas followed the omegas’ steps, behaving even more obediently than dogs.
“Godmother!”
“Godmother is back!”
“Oh, a new companion?”
The passing omegas greeted them warmly, and even more of them curiously sized up Yan Qiongyu’s face.
Seeing Yan Qiongyu’s gaze sweep over those alphas held by leashes, Qin Ling said smugly, “Our place is better, right? You can raise ‘dogs’ as you please.”
Yan Mu walked ahead. Seeing that she wasn’t paying attention, Qin Ling leaned close to Yan Qiongyu’s ear and whispered maliciously, “I heard you were assigned a dog over on the Imperial side. Why didn’t you bring it? Or do you want to change to a new one here?”
Yan Qiongyu said, “I’m truly sorry. I don’t have a dog, because I don’t need one like you do.”
Qin Ling glared at him coldly. “An omega like you, tamed by the Empire, isn’t worthy of coming here!”
The alphas of the Imperial Capital Star kept caged birds; the omegas of the Utopia kept dogs. There was no difference—Yan Qiongyu disliked them all.
“If you’re afraid that my arrival will take what’s yours,” Yan Qiongyu smiled at her, “then feel free to be afraid.”
