An omega who has been marked by an alpha will undergo changes in their pheromones. Some of the original pheromone scents will change along with the alpha’s pheromones, and Yan Mu’s pheromone scent is extremely mixed.
She has been marked by many alphas. Higher-ranking alphas can override the marks of lower-ranking alphas. This kind of overriding is extremely painful, and fragile omegas can easily collapse because of it.
An alpha’s pheromones can forcibly push an omega into heat. Once marked, the body will submit to the alpha, and the body often affects the mind. Likewise, an omega’s pheromones can also entice an alpha into losing reason… pheromones, in the AO world, dominate everything like the highest law.
Yan Mu is an omega with 3S-level mental strength. Among physically fragile omegas, the probability of having high-level mental strength is much higher than the probability of alphas with strong bodies having high-level mental strength. Therefore, Yan Mu would be affected by alpha pheromones, but would not be completely dominated by pheromones, because there was no alpha whose level exceeded hers.
Her first lover was nothing more than an ordinary alpha, his rank not even reaching A. He could not even fully mark her.
Yan Mu, not yet twenty years old at the time, once brooded over this. He told her: although there is no mark on our bodies, our souls carry each other’s shadows. When you realized I loved you, I had already completed my mark.
Later, the incomplete mark on her body was easily overridden by other high-ranking alphas, and the mark in her soul has now also become blurred.
She experienced too many times the splitting of body and soul. Her pheromones told her she should accept those high-ranking alphas, yet her heart was in pain.
Later, perhaps because too many different alpha pheromones inside her body were mutually contending, it instead allowed her to temporarily extricate herself from the mire. Thus, carrying bodily attachment and psychological hatred, she used her erupting mental strength to blow apart the brains of every alpha around her one by one.
She loathes the pheromones in her own body. These mixed pheromones are still tormenting her to this day. She conducted many experiments, yet none allowed her to completely rid herself of their influence. She did not expect that, in the end, it would be Yan Qiongyu who brought her what she wanted.
Yan Mu knows what he has done in her Utopia. Whether it was killing those who were not aligned with him, using those who threatened him as experimental subjects and putting them to sleep, or gathering her loyal servants under his command… she saw all of it, and she indulged it.
She used her own attitude to tell him: as long as he could give her what she wanted, she could be tolerant to the greatest extent.
Yan Qiongyu did not disappoint her. He did very well, far better than she had when she was young. It was just that Yan Mu still felt this was too slow. She could no longer wait.
This mother and son, who appeared similar in appearance and intimate in demeanor, one sitting and one lying down, spoke softly, maintaining the same surface calm as before.
Yan Mu looked at Yan Qiongyu and suddenly said, “These past few days, you went to see your alpha again?”
Her tone was weak, even carrying motherly warmth: “If you can’t bear to part with her, why not bring her over? Just in time, she can also help make your experiments go more smoothly.”
The cat in Yan Qiongyu’s arms suddenly screeched and jumped out of his embrace, landing on Yan Mu’s bed, staring at him tightly together with Yan Mu.
There was no discernible change in Yan Qiongyu’s expression. He calmly asked, “What is Mother talking about? I don’t understand.”
Yan Mu’s expression carried a cold indifference that understood everything, yet her tone remained habitually gentle: “I’ve looked at your body data. The mutation of WE-substances is in the glandular region.”
Between them, there was no need to be too explicit. Yan Mu merely mentioned a few points lightly: “The one who marked you isn’t only a single alpha, is it? Such a precious observation subject. I remember… her name is Wang Luan, right.”
Her tone grew even softer, making one’s scalp crawl: “If I had known she was such a rare alpha, you should have brought her along, rather than sending her away halfway and hiding her. You’ve always been smart, how did you do something so foolish.”
She knew these words would anger Yan Qiongyu, but she did not expect him to be even more composed than she had imagined.
He did not interrupt her, nor did he show much reaction. Only after Yan Mu stopped speaking and began observing his response did Yan Qiongyu stand up, raise his hand, and gently stroke the hair at her temples.
“Mother, if you’re uncomfortable, you should stop thinking about so many things. Resting well is the most important.”
He offered a line of concern, then rose and left.
Only after leaving Yan Mu’s sight and stepping outside the door did his expression sink inch by inch.
Yan Mu knew of Wang Luan’s existence, and he was not surprised. Everything about him had likely been examined by Yan Mu the moment he set foot in the Utopia. She noticed Wang Luan because he had taken her out of the Imperial Capital Star, which in itself represented many things. What he did not expect was that Yan Mu would directly discover Wang Luan’s abnormality.
His real body data had been covered layer upon layer. Especially after the discovery of WE-substances, he had been extra cautious. Even so, Yan Mu still obtained the post-mutation data… her claws and eyes were still far too many.
Yan Qiongyu lowered his eyes and thought about whether he should next dispose of Yan Mu’s “hands” or her “eyes,” so that she would think less about things she shouldn’t and lie there quietly as an experimental subject.
Earlier, when he heard her speak Wang Luan’s name, for a moment he wanted to kill her outright. Unfortunately, he still could not completely control the CON base at present, and behind Yan Mu there was still quite a group of shepherd dogs drooling as they waited to tear him apart. If she died now, everything would spiral out of control.
As Yan Qiongyu thought, his hand rested in the pocket of his white sterilization suit, rubbing a pink snowflake-shaped salt crystal. After a moment he withdrew his fingers, discovering that the pads of his fingers were stained with a faint layer of pink.
Yan Qiongyu: “…………”
When Wang Luan gave it to him, she had sworn with absolute certainty that it was a natural pink salt crystal. It was clearly dyed; who knows whether she had discovered this regrettable fact.
Natural salt crystal mines did exist in the Salt River Zone, where the lair of the Yanlan Star bandit group was located, but clearly what Wang Luan bought was not from there. But this could not really be blamed on her. After all, what kind of simple and honest local customs could a star bandit group’s lair have? Selling fakes was perfectly normal.
Thinking of the Yanlan Star bandit group, Yan Qiongyu felt it was somewhat troublesome. Yan Lan and Yan Yan were the two most difficult mad dogs Yan Mu raised. If he truly did anything to Yan Mu, regardless of success or failure, they would come as soon as they caught the scent.
Last time, he sent a message to the Yanlan Star bandit group’s mortal enemies, opening a convenient door for them and allowing them to attack right up to the bandit group’s doorstep. Those useless things only managed to tie them down for a short while and did not exhaust them much.
Other arrangements were still needed.
No matter how turbulent and full of undercurrents and scheming things were on Yan Qiongyu’s side, Wang Luan knew nothing of it. Her life was orderly and calm, focusing every day on spaceship modification.
On the third day after Yan Qiongyu left, she found it a bit hard to concentrate. From time to time she wanted to take out the communicator he had left behind and look at it. It wasn’t that she missed him; she just knew he would send messages, and she couldn’t help guessing what he would send, always keeping it in mind.
Then she waited until night. The silent communicator lay beside her pillow. Wang Luan thought maybe the thing was broken—could it have been damaged when she wasn’t paying attention and dropped it earlier at noon while holding it in her arms? She couldn’t help but climb up to look for tools, wanting to take it apart and check.
Just as she got up, the communicator chimed once.
She picked it up to look. An image—on the paper, written neatly in the script of her hometown, was a single sentence: “I guess you’ve been waiting since morning.”
Wang Luan: “…………” Holding her breath—why wasn’t this person in front of her? If he were, she definitely wouldn’t let him be this arrogant.
She tossed the communicator aside and went to sleep.
Once every three days, Yan Qiongyu wasn’t always this annoying; there were times when he behaved normally.
He only used the script of her hometown to communicate with her, like letters from afar.
At most, he once wrote her an entire diary entry—writing about how, when he woke up in the morning, the sunlight looked annoying; how there was an irritating cat monitoring him again, with a vicious big-eyed, bristling black cat drawn beside it. It was the first time Wang Luan discovered that he was actually a stick-figure, “soul-of-an-artist” type. He also wrote that he forgot to eat at noon and drank nutrient fluid, which was very unpleasant; in the afternoon, that annoying cat ate his pink snowflake salt crystal… At this point Wang Luan was shocked and immediately replied to him.
Wang Luan: Is the cat okay?! Cats can’t eat salt crystals! Hurry and dig it out!
Perhaps she angered him. After that, when Yan Qiongyu sent her messages, he sent only a single character. Once every three days, one character each time. Wang Luan waited more than ten days before finally piecing together five characters: “You only care about the cat.”
Wang Luan: “…………” It seemed he wasn’t getting along very well with other cats out there.
Wang Luan never initiated messages. Each time, only when Yan Qiongyu sent her a message would she reply with one. Usually it was an image—she would draw her progress on modifying the spaceship, simple line drawings of the ship, with annotations beside them:
“The ship’s planting area has been arranged. The design is as follows. My preliminary plan is to grow vegetables, but you like flowers, so I also reserved an area for growing flowers.”
“Your room on the ship is located here. If there are any issues, you can raise them.”
“The kitchen is here. It’s a bit small because there isn’t enough space.”
“I made the cockpit a two-seater. I don’t know if you’ve piloted a ship before; I think the experience is pretty good, with a great view.” And so on.
When Yan Qiongyu sent her the next message, he would include his reply to the previous one.
“The planting area can all be used to grow vegetables—vegetables that bloom. I can appreciate all the flowers.”
“If space isn’t enough, my room can be canceled (smiling expression).”
“I very much look forward to riding this spaceship together with Miss Wang Luan. I think we’ll definitely see stars more beautiful than at any other time. (Lately, sitting for long periods has made my waist a bit uncomfortable, so please equip the pilot seat with a soft cushion. Also, I’ve already started learning spaceship piloting, so please rest assured.)”
Following some of his suggestions, Wang Luan made small adjustments to her design bit by bit, filling out her spaceship.
For the arrangement of every area on the ship, she asked Yan Qiongyu. Sometimes he praised her enthusiastically; sometimes he tactfully expressed, “This design is really too ugly, can’t it be changed?” Wang Luan would occasionally feel as though the two of them were discussing the renovation of a new home.
Just like that, several months passed, and her small spaceship was finished being modified.
