“The suppressant…” Bai Chunian’s face slowly flushed with heat as he reached toward the drawers, but this was Dr. Han’s office, and many of the drawers were locked. With his consciousness growing increasingly hazy, Bai Chunian could only grope around aimlessly.
Lan Bo turned around, straddling Bai Chunian’s lap, and cupped his face to examine him. His face was flushed all the way from his ears down to his neck.
“This heat… you’re so hot. So this is what it feels like.” Lan Bo pressed his hand against Bai Chunian’s cheek, using his human hand to feel the scorching heat, slowly tracing down to his neck, his fingertips brushing against the taut muscles, touching the skin.
“Honey, hurry up and find me the suppressant… I don’t want to be in Han’s office… I want to go home…”
“You’re high-ranking; the suppressant shot will be very painful.” Lan Bo knelt on the chair, lowering his head to nuzzle the Alpha’s browbone and bridge of his nose with the tip of his nose, holding the Alpha’s hand and guiding it to touch his waist and legs.
“I’m not quite used to this body yet. Would you like to try it?” Lan Bo’s deep, gentle voice whispered seductively in his ear, “Or better yet, let me do it—lay my eggs inside you. You’ll surely choose to protect them, and then you won’t dare do anything dangerous again. You’ll have to stay by my side, come back to the Caribbean with me, and show your beautiful body to my subjects. If you hatch them yourself, I promise the next Siren will definitely be one of them.”
Lan Bo’s pupils slowly narrowed into slits. He was moved by his own promise, and his possessiveness grew wilder within him.
Lan Bo’s voice was too melodious; the stories of sailors lost in the sirens’ songs and sinking to the ocean floor suddenly made perfect sense.
However, Bai Chunian couldn’t hear a word he was saying. He simply clung to Lan Bo, inhaling the faint scent of pheromones on his body and rubbing his head against him—looking exactly like a clingy kitten seeking affection from a big cat.
“……” Lan Bo silently set aside his dangerous thoughts for the moment. Among the merfolk, the Alpha assumes the responsibility of incubation under harsh conditions, but after hatching, the egg remains inside the Alpha’s body in its larval form. Omegas are born with protective isolation organs, whereas Alphas do not. At that time, the juvenile would voraciously devour the Alpha’s nutrients and energy; in extreme cases, incidents where the juvenile kills the Alpha from within to sustain itself are not uncommon. The Merfolk are a matriarchal society; within the clan, Merfolk Alphas are numerous yet hold low status, so sacrificing themselves for the survival of the clan is considered no great loss.
But when he imagined Xiao Bai in the role of a Merfolk Alpha, Lan Bo felt a pang of sorrow.
At first, Lan Bo treated him like a little flame-colored fish kept inside a skull by the bedside. Lan Bo had found that fish in a deep-sea trench; it was beautiful and very obedient, quietly and dutifully helping him remove seaweed and sand from his body while he rested.
For these two hundred and seventy years, Lan Bo has kept the entire Blue Kingdom running smoothly; it seemed as though the entire ocean belonged to him, yet it also felt as though he owned nothing at all.
It wasn’t until he met Bai Chunian that he truly came alive, realizing he could have beautiful names for things beyond those of a siren. Bai Chunian called mating “making love,” exchanging saliva “kissing,” and patrolling their territory “honeymooning.” It turned out these things all had lovely names and sweet meanings. In Lan Bo’s eyes, Bai Chunian was romance incarnate.
“Honey, the suppressant…” Bai Chunian muttered gloomily, his voice softening as he spoke.
Lan Bo took a suppressant from the outermost drawer and tore open the plastic seal with his teeth.
“This won’t do, honey… This is the regular kind. I need the high-potency one.”
“It’s fine, I’ll handle the rest.” Lan Bo removed the cap from the syringe, sat down on the desk, pulled off Bai Chunian’s combat jacket to expose one of his arms, tightened the rubber tourniquet, and tapped the area to locate a vein.
After being transformed into a test subject, knowledge related to special operations had been implanted into his brain. Lan Bo was thoroughly familiar with the mechanics of various firearms, and he also knew the basics of human medical procedures—though his webbed hands had previously made it difficult for him to handle such small parts.
Bai Chunian lay face-down across Lan Bo’s lap, resting his head on his knee. His gaze was somewhat vacant and unfocused as he watched the needle tip pierce his vein. The solution was slowly pushed in; as it flowed into his bloodstream, a sharp, icy pain shot through him, and Bai Chunian let out a soft groan with his eyes half-open.
Lan Bo bent down to rub his flattened ear, soothing the White Lion Alpha who, under normal circumstances, could nonchalantly extract a bullet from his body and continue chatting and laughing as if nothing had happened.
The effects of the standard suppressant weren’t that intense, so Bai Chunian wasn’t in much pain; he simply lay quietly on Lan Bo’s lap, his hand clasping Lan Bo’s foot, which was dangling over the edge of the table.
“Next time you let people worship you, you can’t let them kiss your tail… and definitely not your feet… Have them kiss the floor tiles instead. You’re my wife—I won’t agree to everyone kissing you.”
“But they can only become believers by touching me. What about the tips of their fingers?”
“Fingernails—fingernails at most. Nothing more.”
“Okay.”
“So much smaller than mine, and so skinny.” Bai Chunian lazily narrowed his eyes as he examined Lan Bo’s foot. “So white. Your toes are so long.”
Bai Chunian developed a keen interest in Lan Bo’s foot. He grabbed one ankle and lifted it up, then lightly scraped the sole with his thumb.
A strange sensation surged through him. Lan Bo felt an intense itch and couldn’t help but kick out with his leg, but with an Alpha’s strength, there was no way he could be easily knocked over. Bai Chunian grabbed his ankle, stood up, and pressed down on him. Lan Bo fell onto the desk, sending books, magazines, and papers scattering to the floor.
Bai Chunian held the omega’s slender ankle, lifting the sole of his foot to face him. Since he hadn’t walked much yet, there wasn’t even a hint of callus—it was as smooth as a child’s skin. Bai Chunian brought it close to his nose, sniffed, kissed it once, then again, murmuring, “It really is different. It actually smells sweet.”
Lan Bo tried to sit up again, but Bai Chunian pounced on him and pressed him back down. The Alpha’s heat hadn’t subsided yet; his brandy pheromones were racing through the air, eventually intoxicating him as well, making him look a bit tipsy.
Before Lan Bo could speak, Bai Chunian bit down hard on his neck. Sharp, predatory fangs pierced the skin on the side of his neck. Taken by surprise, Lan Bo let out a startled gasp. Before the pain of the bite had even subsided, his arm was bitten again. The Alpha was like a predatory beast on the hunt, searching for his scent glands and marking every spot he found.
Bai Chunian yanked him up and flipped him over, pinning Lan Bo firmly beneath him. He twisted his arms behind his back and held them in his left hand, finally finding the nape of his neck and biting down hard, His fangs left a row of puncture wounds of varying depths on the gland, and droplets of blood seeped out. Bai Chunian licked the blood clean, pursed his lips, then bit down again, injecting his pheromones into the wound.
Lan Bo was in excruciating pain, but he didn’t throw Bai Chunian off. Instead, he gritted his teeth and endured the young alpha’s violent outburst.
Having finally released some of the pheromones surging through his body, Bai Chunian felt much better. Hugging Lan Bo from behind, he asked dazedly, “ “I read a book once. It said a little mermaid traded her voice to a witch of the deep for a bottle of medicine in exchange for a pair of legs. Drinking that potion would make legs grow, but she’d never be able to sing again. Walking would feel like stepping on the tips of needles—every step would be excruciating. Does it hurt?”
He didn’t know if walking hurt, but the bite certainly did. Lan Bo rubbed the tooth marks on the back of his neck and hissed, drawing in a sharp breath.
Footsteps approached from outside the examination room.
“You all saw the entire process of extracting and testing the medication just now, right? Memorize the procedure clearly. Tomorrow, each of you will demonstrate it for me.”
“Yes, Teacher Han.”
Han Xingqian returned to his office. Assuming Bai Chunian would have locked the door after leaving that morning, he used the spare key to open it.
A powerful surge of A3-level Alpha pheromones flooded out of the room, and the overwhelming pressure instantly knocked the few junior interns behind Han Xingqian off their feet.
The Omega interns groaned and rubbed their heads as they scrambled to their feet, their eyes immediately landing on the blond youth sitting on the examination table. One long leg dangled down, while the other was draped over the legs of the Alpha sitting in the chair across from him.
The Alpha in the chair was flushed. His black combat uniform was half-unbuttoned, revealing a camouflage vest underneath. He tilted his head back slightly, and a bead of sweat trickled down his chin, past his Adam’s apple, and into the Dead Sea Heart Rock collar.
The interns covered their faces and screamed. The Alpha in the chair, looking thoroughly satisfied, turned out to be the head of the Investigation Division in the Special Operations Unit—shattering the image of the innocent, school-boy-style heartthrob.
Lan Bo glanced back at the little o’s, provocatively beckoning them with a flick of his finger. Then, hooking his finger through the collar around Bai Chunian’s neck, he yanked him toward him and tilted his head to bite the Alpha’s neck.
As the white rose pheromone seeped into his skin, a deep blue pattern began to spread from the bite mark, gradually forming a full blue fish-scale pattern across the Alpha’s skin. When his lips pulled away from the neck, a silvery thread of saliva stretched between them.
The interns all fled, screaming and blushing, leaving only Han Xingqian standing at the door, clutching a stack of data files.
After being injected with pheromones by Lan Bo, Bai Chunian’s heat phase was finally suppressed. His mind gradually cleared. He rubbed his face, ran his fingers through his hair, and sniffed, looking as lazy as someone just waking up: “Oh, oh… Damn, I feel a little off. Forcing down the heat phase is so uncomfortable. No good—I have to go to work soon. I’ll have to find another place to suppress it.”
Han Xingqian picked up the books and magazines that had fallen to the floor. Seeing the used syringe on the table, he knew exactly what had happened: “Alright, let me guess who was on top today.”
Bai Chunian rubbed his face again, trying to wake himself up, and held out his hand to Han Xingqian: “Um, Han, quick, find me a pair of swim trunks—oh, make that two pairs.”
Han Xingqian snorted derisively: “Where are you going?”
“To the pool in the gym downstairs.”
“What are you going there for?”
Bai Chunian stood up: “Hurry up. This is my first chance in life to swim better than a mermaid.”
——
The headquarters building had a dedicated recreational area where employees could work out, relax, and unwind after work. Anyone with an ID card could enter, and since security wasn’t strict, those without cards could slip in as long as they were accompanied by someone with one.
It happened to be during the trainee exchange program, so some PBB officers in charge of leading the groups—who didn’t have much to do otherwise—liked to hang out here too.
Ying and Yu Xiaochen were soaking in the shallow end, each holding a cup of milk tea, watching a few Alphas dive off the platform.
Standing on the diving platform were a Whale Shark Alpha and an Anemone Alpha, both bearing codes beginning with “PBB”—the initials of the PBB Shark Squad.
The Whale Shark Alpha gave the Sea Anemone Alpha a meaningful look: “Feng Lang, that clownfish is watching you. What do you say—should I pretend to lose to you?”
The Sea Anemone Alpha snorted with a laugh: “As if you could win without faking it.”
“How about you pretend to be drowning? He swims really fast; he’ll definitely come save you.”
“Damn… that’s not embarrassing enough. Hurry up, or I’m leaving.”
The Alphas were naturally tall and slender, and their rigorous military training had honed their physiques into even more chiseled, striking figures. The two Alphas dived into the water and sprinted down the fifty-meter lane.
Ying clung to Yu Xiaochen’s arm and squealed excitedly, “Ahhhhh, Captain Wei is so handsome, oh my god.”
Yu Xiaochen calmly sipped her bubble tea. “If you like him that much, I’ll go get his number for you.”
“No, no, no, I don’t want that.” Ying lowered her head, her toes scraping the pool floor. “I don’t have anything that stands out. He wouldn’t even notice me. That would be so awkward.”
“Of course you do. You definitely do.” Yu Xiao’cheng suddenly reached into the water and slapped Ying on the butt.
Ying’s butt immediately lit up.
“That’s so eye-catching! You’re the brightest kid in the whole pool right now.” Yu Xiaochen gave him a thumbs-up.
Whale Shark Alpha and Sea Anemone Alpha touched the wall at the same time, rising out of the water. They pulled off their goggles and shook the water from their faces. Feng Lang turned to look over, and Wei Lan looked over too, smiling.
Feeling utterly embarrassed, Ying dove back into the water and crouched in the farthest corner of the pool, leaving only a small glowing butt visible.
Just as Feng Lang was about to call them over, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of two people walking in through the door. Laughing and chatting, they stretched their bodies as they made their way toward the diving board, instantly drawing the attention of everyone inside and outside the pool.
Wei Lan muttered under his breath, “Why the hell did Bai Chunnian bring such a hot O in here? Doesn’t he have a wife? Turns out no Alpha can resist a pair of long legs.”
Feng Lang narrowed his eyes. “What’s that… mark on him? An O’s mark? Captain He said he’s always pulling stunts like this.”
Bai Chunian walked up to the diving board and stretched his limbs. Wearing nothing but black briefs, the vivid, deep-blue fish pattern on his chest glowed with a cold light. As he warmed up, he explained the rules to Lan Bo: “One swimmer per lane, fifty-meter round trip. The first one back to touch the timer under this platform wins.”
Lan Bo stood on the adjacent platform, looking down and tugging awkwardly at the elastic waistband of his swim trunks. Alpha bite marks still lingered on his shoulders, arms, and neck. Since he’d just been injected with pheromones, the fiery lion’s mane covering the scars across his entire back glowed vividly.
“What happens if you lose?” Lan Bo asked flatly, tugging at his swim trunks.
“You have to show your tail to the opponent.”