Zhu Xing did not like the High Tower. As she grew older, she increasingly disliked this place that forever maintained order and regularity.
Here, there were only some boring and useless alphas. They did the heaviest and most ordinary work here, hiding underground like countless ants.
The omegas here, regardless of age, had no relatives. Each person possessed a tower and was the highest-ranked existence within that tower. Aside from being able to command many alphas, there were also a small number of betas responsible for taking care of them.
And Zhu Xing, as a shepherd, was responsible for managing the omegas here.
Zhu Xing knew that this place was different from many places outside, because this was a utopia.
The hierarchy in the utopia was decided by the Godmothers, and also by shepherds like them.
When she was twelve years old, the Godmother handed over to her the authority to manage this place, telling her that this was her world, and what it should be like was for her to create.
At twelve, Zhu Xing had just read a story about a princess in a high tower, so she naively said that she wanted to live like a princess in a high tower, to have many servants, and then have many slaves.
Thus, little by little, under her wishes, this utopia became the “High Tower.”
She still remembered that at the time, the Godmother patted her head and praised her.
The Godmother was always generous with praise toward every one of their children.
Just like Qin Ling—she said she liked raising dogs and wanted everyone in the utopia to raise dogs, and the Godmother praised her as well.
Just like another junior she knew. He hoped to have a perfect family, to have kind parents. Thus, in his utopia, omegas and alphas formed the most ordinary families. Every household was a standard, perfect family, and any imperfection or discord was heresy.
The Godmother always said that alphas should be ruled by omegas, yet when the junior arranged his utopia that way, the Godmother still praised him.
All of their “shepherds” came from the same school. Their teacher was the Godmother, and their mother was also the Godmother.
When she handed this utopia over to her, Zhu Xing was extremely excited. She had always admired the Godmother, but just like how a child, after growing up, inevitably becomes tired of old toys, she also developed such feelings toward her own High Tower.
This place never changed; everyone was fixed in their roles.
Thus, she came to prefer going outside. The outside world was completely different from the High Tower. There were all kinds of people. Only then did she realize that alphas were not only those meek, lowly, and humble types. More often, they were crude and irritable, acting on their whims—yet she did not like either kind.
During one of the times she disguised herself as a beta to travel in the outside world, she encountered Wang Luan.
When no one else paid any attention, she saw Wang Luan stop an alpha from beating a female beta. That female beta was ugly and filthy, yet Wang Luan did not mind. She bought her water and food, and even bought her a ship ticket to send her home.
Coincidentally, her spaceship had a bit of trouble at the time, and the one who came to repair it was Wang Luan.
She was unlike the alphas outside who liked to boast, lavishly describing their abilities and experiences. She just quietly worked, and easily repaired her spaceship.
Zhu Xing went up to speak with her. Although she answered every sentence, she was very concise, and toward Zhu Xing she was not even as gentle as she had been to that ugly, dirty female beta—despite the fact that Zhu Xing was so good-looking.
Later, she would often deliberately pass by that area, and occasionally could see Wang Luan. She was somewhat famous in that area; as well-known as her repair skills was her soft heart.
In such a chaotic place, there were always many pitiful people. But everyone was used to looking out only for themselves. No one would help others without regard for compensation—yet Wang Luan would.
The second time Zhu Xing saw her, she watched her help an omega who had escaped from a human trafficking spaceship.
The third time she saw her, she saw her stepping on someone’s hand, pressing a ray gun against that person’s wrist, burning straight through his hand.
“Do you understand now not to come trick me again next time?” she said to the sobbing alpha. And it was probably at that moment that Zhu Xing suddenly felt her heartbeat lose its balance.
She was serious for the first time like this, even thinking that she was willing to be marked by this alpha. Even though the Godmother’s only requirement of them was that they were not allowed to be completely marked by any alpha, if this person wanted it, Zhu Xing felt that she would be willing as well.
With a guilty conscience, she brought Wang Luan back to her High Tower, instinctively understanding that she could not let the Godmother discover it. She had even prepared herself to keep Wang Luan in the High Tower for a lifetime. What she had not expected was that Wang Luan would come to know Yan Qiongyu—the one person she hated and envied the most.
When she saw the two of them appear in the same room like that, the clearest feeling in Zhu Xing’s heart was betrayal.
With a calmness she herself had not anticipated, she returned to the High Tower and looked down upon her utopia.
She was furious with Wang Luan, yet still felt that she liked her and wanted to keep her in the High Tower. Only this time, she wanted Wang Luan to become like the other alphas in the High Tower. She had made her sad—there should be some punishment.
Moreover, she wanted to know: at that point, would she still like Wang Luan? Would Yan Qiongyu still like Wang Luan?
Yan Qiongyu appeared before Zhu Xing once again, his collar neat and tidy. If not for the wound on his mouth that had yet to heal, he looked no different from his usual cold and cunning self.
“This new medicine may have some reactions,” Yan Qiongyu said as if nothing had happened. “There are one hundred and twenty omegas in your High Tower. Notify them to come in six batches for injections.”
Different from the drugs injected into the utopia’s alphas to destroy their mental power and control them, the drugs given to omegas had another purpose. At the very beginning, they were meant to develop mental power; from children to adults, all needed to be injected.
The Godmother said she wanted to create a world where omegas did not need alphas. Later, she began researching drugs that could enhance omegas’ physical constitution.
But what kind of drugs she had ultimately developed was no longer clear to anyone. They merely, out of fanatical worship of the Godmother or for other reasons, were willing to accept these monthly injections.
In the past, Zhu Xing had also suffered because of these drugs, experiencing some not-too-serious rejection reactions. Some of the omegas she managed had even died suddenly because of them. She did not care. Having been injected with drugs given by the Godmother since childhood, this had already become a habit to her.
Yet this time, when Yan Qiongyu stood beside her and was about to inject her, Zhu Xing suddenly felt a bone-chilling sensation.
Yan Qiongyu’s hand moved toward her neck. Zhu Xing’s breathing instinctively grew heavier, and she could not help but stop him.
Yan Qiongyu’s movement paused. Looking at her expression, he smiled slightly. “Why are you showing such a frightened look?”
Zhu Xing closed her eyes briefly, unwilling to show weakness before him again. “The Godmother will not tolerate you killing us again and again. You killed Qin Ling—do you think the Godmother really won’t pursue this? If something happens to me again, you will also be in trouble.”
Yan Qiongyu raised his brows without speaking, directly pushing the drug into Zhu Xing’s neck.
“Don’t think too highly of yourself. And,” Yan Qiongyu tossed aside the syringe, “I won’t kill you.”
Zhu Xing’s expression fluctuated as she covered her neck.
She did not know if it was because of her suspicion, but she felt that the reaction from this injection came faster than usual. Her head throbbed with pain, and she could not help but clutch her head and groan on the bed. In her pain, she saw Yan Qiongyu standing by the window watching her, his expression indistinct.
“What did you… inject me with?” Zhu Xing’s voice was unsteady.
“A new-type drug, approved by Mother,” Yan Qiongyu replied lightly and casually.
“That’s not right. You definitely injected me with something else. You want me dead, don’t you?!” Zhu Xing shouted. “Because I know your secret, because of Liu Luan—you hold a grudge against me!”
Amid the blur came a laugh. “If you were a bit smarter, you wouldn’t mention her at a time like this.”
Zhu Xing could not listen. She only felt that Yan Qiongyu truly wanted to kill her, shouting the names of several beta attendants.
The sound of a door opening, footsteps, Yan Qiongyu’s voice—he said, “The drug reaction is a bit strong. Watch her closely.”
Without paying Zhu Xing any further attention, Yan Qiongyu went down to the next level to inject the first batch of omegas with the drug. These omegas came from various backgrounds, but most were still very young. Every one of them had “studied” at Yan Mu’s school.
In the utopia, omegas were divided into classes according to their mental power levels. These omegas who could possess a tower all had mental power at the A level.
Yan Qiongyu observed each person and carried out brief conversations with them.
Different from Zhu Xing, who harbored hostility toward him, these omegas, because of his similar appearance to Yan Mu and his identity, all behaved very meekly. Even though many experienced stabbing pain in their minds due to the stronger reactions after the injection of the new-type drug, no one caused trouble or even raised objections.
Yan Qiongyu recorded and compiled each person’s data, and established a database for every one of them. In his private intelligent brain, there were already tens of thousands of such databases, each one an omega of the utopia.
In the first round of injections, among everyone, Zhu Xing had the strongest reaction. Aside from the stabbing pain in her head, she also experienced dizziness, vomiting, and similar symptoms. For several days in a row, she lay in bed unable to get up, spending most of the time in a deep sleep.
When she was awake, the only person she could see was Yan Qiongyu. Under such circumstances, she neither had the time nor the energy to look for trouble with Wang Luan.
Thus, Wang Luan’s sensitive period passed quietly within the High Tower.
Wang Luan did not know why, aside from the first day, Zhu Xing did not come looking for trouble again. She guessed it was because of Yan Qiongyu, but this state left her unable to think deeply about it.
During those days in the High Tower, the only person she basically had contact with was Yan Qiongyu. Every meal was brought to the bedside by him. From time to time, he would return to the room carrying the astringent smell of medicine and disinfectant, then hold her and comfort her. He did not mention what he was doing, nor did he take her out to see anything.
“There’s nothing worth seeing here. Just rest well.”
In the later stage of her sensitive period, Wang Luan began to think: “Isn’t there some kind of drug that can suppress the sensitive period?”
The hand Yan Qiongyu had placed at the back of her head paused for a moment. He said, “That kind of drug is harmful to the body. Under normal circumstances, it’s not recommended to inject it.”
Wang Luan said, “Don’t you yourself often inject drugs recklessly?”
Yan Qiongyu accepted it readily. “Alright, then I’ll inject drugs a little less in the future as well.”
On the day Wang Luan’s sensitive period ended, Yan Qiongyu returned to the room and did not see her. He did not feel surprised. On the bed, he found a note.
It was not written by her, but the very note he had left behind the last time he departed without saying goodbye.
“Alright then, one time each, we’re even.” Yan Qiongyu smiled, standing by the window as he quietly watched a spaceship depart from the tower port.
He guessed Wang Luan was on that ship.
Perhaps because he himself was not a good person, the places around him were not good places either. She still had to return to an environment suitable for her, just like plants that must be planted in appropriate soil to grow vigorously.
After confirming that Wang Luan had left, Yan Qiongyu went to the observation room and injected Zhu Xing with the final dose of the drug. Over the past two days, she had been unconscious most of the time; it was rare for her to be awake.
As expected, Yan Qiongyu received a communication from Yan Mu.
“How is the situation in the High Tower?” The woman stroked a cat as she asked him.
“Not bad. Better than I expected. It’s just that this kind of drug causes stronger reactions in those of higher rank.”
“So Zhu Xing’s condition isn’t very good?”
“I think she can endure it. After all, I tested it on myself first. If she can’t even tolerate this level, then she’s too useless, isn’t she.”
“Be a bit more tolerant toward that child,” Yan Mu said gently. “S-rank—there are only a dozen or so left.”
Yan Qiongyu said, “Understood. I’ll try not to wear down precious experimental subjects.”
The communication ended. Yan Qiongyu looked toward Zhu Xing at his side, whose eyes were now open. The two of them looked at each other for a moment. Zhu Xing’s voice was hoarse as she said, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll tell the Godmother about you and Liu Luan?”
Yan Qiongyu said, “I don’t want to wear down precious experimental subjects.”
