The person inside the Phantom made no move to get out. The car remained parked steadily on the road. The once-noisy examination grounds gradually fell silent; some people even held their breath.
This car rarely appeared in public view. Because whenever it did, it meant two specific people were sitting inside. And if those two appeared together before the public, it signified a clear stance.
“Uncle Jin and the Chairman are both here.” Bai Chunian narrowed his eyes, observing the alpha–omega pair seated in the back of the Phantom. “Did they receive some important news?”
The car carried no visible weapons. Yet the helicopter from the 109 Research Institute hovering over the examination site did not dare advance. Instead, it entered a tense standoff with its target at close range.
The ATWL examination site had originally closed its gates after receiving the 109 Research Institute’s arrest warning. But once the Phantom appeared and confronted the helicopter for several minutes, the exam authorities seemed to make their choice between the two forces. The gates reopened.
Bi Lanxing was the first to grasp the situation. He signaled Bai Chunian with his eyes. The four of them exited through the main gate—no one stopped them.
Outside, more than a dozen riot-control armored vehicles bearing the white IOA emblem—the International Omega Alliance—surrounded them. Armed riot officers jumped down, presented Bai Chunian with an arrest warrant signed by the Chairman, and cuffed him.
The warrant listed his violations in meticulous detail: illegally adopting a special combat experimental subject; illegally bringing a special combat experimental subject into the city; illegally removing the subject’s inhibitor; refusing the Chairman’s orders and declining to hand over the mission target.
Bai Chunian had nothing to say. He surrendered without resistance.
From two additional armored vehicles, over a dozen medical personnel in white coats stepped down and cautiously approached Lan Bo. Their uniforms also bore the IOA insignia, though different from the riot unit’s—while the riot badge featured two crossed submachine guns, the Medical Association emblem displayed a red cross with a feather.
Lan Bo did not recognize their scent. He arched his barbed dorsal fin, his entire body flushing into a threatening red.
When he saw Bai Chunian placed in handcuffs, he suddenly grew more frenzied. With the electrified tip of his tail, he drove back the riot officers near Bai Chunian in warning.
“It is all right. They are our own people.” Bai Chunian released soothing pheromones and raised his cuffed hands to stroke Lan Bo’s hair. “Do not bristle.”
Lan Bo sensed his emotions. The sharp barbs on his dorsal fin retracted. The crimson warning hue faded gradually lighter.
Among the medical staff stood a kindly elderly professor. With practiced gestures, he soothed Lan Bo’s agitation and uttered several strange phonetic sounds. Lan Bo tilted his head, studying him, then responded with a few short syllables. His body returned fully to a calm blue.
The detector in the medic’s hand had been flashing: “Strong aggressive emotion detected.” The red light blinked steadily. Only after it switched to “No aggressive emotion detected” and the green light lit up did they dare move closer. Four of them restrained Lan Bo and swiftly inserted a gland inhibitor into the back of his neck.
Lan Bo let out a mournful cry. The light left his eyes. The electric glow in his tail extinguished. He clutched the handle of a suitcase weakly and stayed at Bai Chunian’s side, refusing to leave. His claws dug tightly into the suitcase. When the riot officers prepared to take Bai Chunian away and forcibly drove Lan Bo back, his grip only tightened. Blood seeped from beneath his fingernails.
The elderly professor in the medical coat angrily argued with the riot officers. “We need to take the White Lion alpha as well. They are bonded. Separating them rashly could result in unpredictable consequences.”
The Alliance riot unit was unmoved. They raised the arrest warrant in front of him.
Bai Chunian, however, watched the scene almost leisurely. Then he turned with an earnest look toward Bi Lanxing and Lu Yan. “Can I accompany him to the hospital?”
Bi Lanxing could only stand silently. He knew that in matters like this, juniors rarely had a voice. But just because he understood that did not mean Lu Yan did.
Lu Yan immediately called his father, demanding that Bai Chunian and Lan Bo be allowed to return together to the Medical Department.
“Baby, do not interfere.” The mature, low alpha voice on the phone sounded troubled. “Your Yan-dad is already furious. You might not see your father again.”
Lu Yan replied, “I do not care.”
“….”
Bai Chunian saw the tall alpha seated in the back of the Phantom lean toward the Chairman beside him and murmur something. The Chairman nodded, rabbit ears swaying coldly.
After a brief silence on the call, the riot unit received a new order from the Chairman several minutes later: allow Bai Chunian to leave with the Alliance Medical Department vehicle.
Still in handcuffs, Bai Chunian boarded the medical vehicle. Only then did Lan Bo crawl in on his own, shrinking into the shadow at Bai Chunian’s side.
The cuffs made movement awkward. Bai Chunian adjusted his posture and let Lan Bo rest against his chest, one hand steadying his head to keep it from jostling.
The moisture-retaining bandages wrapped around Lan Bo still dripped water, quickly soaking through Bai Chunian’s shirt and clinging damply to his skin. It was uncomfortable—but it did not matter.
In truth, this version of Lan Bo felt most familiar to Bai Chunian. The appearance Lan Bo took after injecting Aelerant to enter maturity had never existed even in Bai Chunian’s fantasies—it had only been the hallucination induced by a drug. Yet Lan Bo’s mature form—cold, dominant, and overbearing—was undeniably compelling.
Bai Chunian had not rested properly in two days. His thoughts were muddled. But the moment he closed his eyes, Lan Bo’s cool, magnetic voice echoed in his ears.
“I exhausted my pheromones to nurture you into maturity. I put in the effort to send you out of prison. And all these years, you have only remembered your grudge against me?”
Bai Chunian stared out the car window, replaying every detail of what had happened in the sea.
Lan Bo had kissed the corner of his eye. He had responded in the kiss. And then the final shot had pierced his heart.
Only that last act truly resembled something Lan Bo would do.
He turned to the white-coated professor beside him. “You can communicate with merfolk?”
The elderly professor was focused on recording data from the instrument. Without looking up, he answered casually, “I have studied the language of the merfolk species. If it is only simple communication, then yes, I can.”
“Oh.”
Silence lingered in the vehicle for several minutes before Bai Chunian spoke again. “Do you have Aelerant? The hallucinogenic agent.”
That made the old professor pause mid-task. He pushed up his black-framed glasses in surprise. “You actually know about the AC agent. It is a catalytic accelerator developed specifically for glandular cells. Its full name is extremely long, and I assume you are not interested, so I will spare you.”
As though he had encountered a fellow academic, the professor set down his instrument and launched into an enthusiastic explanation.
“It can rapidly promote the maturation and differentiation of glandular cells. At present, it can only be tested on special combat experimental subjects with strong physical constitutions. It has numerous side effects and is highly unstable. In short, it has not passed approval. If it appeared on the market, the distributor would be imprisoned.”
Bai Chunian truly did not care about that. “After injection, are a person’s reactions genuine? Or are they purely the effect of the hallucinogenic components?”
“I cannot say with certainty. I have not reached a definitive conclusion.” The professor stroked his chin. “However, I do know that during synthesis, the compound incorporated a proliferative sample of gland tissue from an experimental subject who possesses precognitive ability. So perhaps the drug’s effects are credible. I am inclined toward that interpretation—but I cannot guarantee it.”
“Mm.” The tension in Bai Chunian’s shoulders finally eased.
Over the past three years, he had spent countless nights lost in disappointment and resentment. What he had truly wanted was simple—he had wanted Lan Bo to tell him personally that it had been a misunderstanding. To tell him that the massive wound left on his body had been an accident—or that there had been another reason.
Even a lie would have been enough.
With a lie, he could have woven a beautiful memory and illusion for himself. Then he would have had a reason to treat Lan Bo a little better. When he failed to restrain himself and gathered him into his arms to soothe him, it would not have felt like a betrayal of his own fragile pride.
“Actually, the existence of this drug is confidential. How did you learn about it?” The professor, oblivious to Bai Chunian’s drifting thoughts, was wholly absorbed in the academic puzzle.
Bai Chunian returned to himself and answered honestly. “In the examination. The ATWL exam earlier. Many candidates obtained it. Although it was only a simulated state, Lan Bo experienced the drug’s effect. Within five seconds, he grew from developmental stage to maturity. His speech and behavior were astonishingly fluent. And… he remembered the past. Every detail.”
“Truly?” The professor, puzzled, pulled out a small notebook from his chest pocket and jotted down the strange news. “Our entire Alliance Medical Department possesses only one AC sample. The drug was invented by a pharmacist from the 109 Research Institute—Hummingbird Aileen. During transport, the Chairman arranged for one dose to be intercepted.”
“In truth, the ATWL examination committee has always maintained neutrality. Their examiners are rather aloof and take pride in presenting original questions, boasting about them at gatherings. They rarely condescend to borrow elements from other forces.” The professor muttered to himself while scribbling notes into his worn notebook. “An old friend of mine is one of this year’s ATWL examiners. If you have time, you could accompany me to visit him.”
“Probably no time.” Bai Chunian raised his cuffed hands for the professor to see. “Once I accompany my omega, I will be heading back to prison.”