Deliberately Throwing the Match?

Pheromones spilled out.

The Alpha fell completely unconscious.

He had dealt with another nuisance. The messy, disgusting stench of pheromones was gone.

Bian He passed by them, kicking pebbles as he walked ahead.

After going some distance,

he collapsed to the ground and coughed up a pool of blood.

He should have killed those scum.

They were wasting his time.

He should have known better than to do this.

The mint scent behind him vanished.

Bian He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and headed toward the outskirts.

There were too many self-righteous people here. They were noisy.

As though he could not feel pain, he kept walking.

At the foot of the mountain, he glanced at the mountain blending into the night and climbed upward along a path.

The suppression ring around his ankle struck the ground with his movements, producing a crisp sound.

The sound echoed through the empty mountain again and again.

His figure vanished amid the trees, no longer visible.

At the foot of the mountain lay an artificially planted forest, its trees packed so densely that the path was impossible to see.

Wan Ying stood behind a tree with his head lowered, his expression obscured.

His fingertips burned, jolting him back to his senses. He crushed the cigarette that had burned down.

Looking at the cigarette he had not taken a single drag from, he was so irritated that his chest felt tight.

What the hell was he doing? Why had he followed him over here out of concern?

There was no denying it.

When he saw the obedient, well-behaved Omega before him effortlessly suppress several Alphas with pheromones...

his heart had begun beating out of rhythm in a strange way.

A Puppy like that was especially alluring.

He disdained physical contact with Alphas; just releasing pheromones was enough to completely crush them.

It seemed the auction introduction had not been entirely false. At the very least, it was true that he could injure several Alphas.

He tossed the extinguished cigarette onto the ground.

Wan Ying stared at the cigarette butt and ground it beneath his foot.

He turned to look up the mountain, the corner of his lips curling slightly as a flicker of amusement crossed his eyes.

Back in his familiar territory, he should be happier.

It was far better than being a pet at an Alpha's feet.

He returned to the car.

"Take those disgusting things from earlier back with you. Teach them the importance of the law. Their charge is openly surrounding, provoking, and insulting an Omega. Looking as ugly as they do, they still had the nerve to swagger around."

The cold disdain slipped from his mouth.

The driver accepted the order.

"Go back."

Wan Ying rested against the rear seat. In the same spot, the space beside him was empty, and so was the space at his feet.

He had thrown that Puppy away.

He had no intention of looking for him at all. Sure enough, it was a dog that could not be raised properly.

Then again, he could not really be said to have raised him. At most, he had redeemed him.

His temper was bad, his moods unpredictable, and he often forgot his pet even existed. No Puppy would be willing to approach him.

Wan Ying looked out the window, his brows drawn together so tightly they nearly formed a crease.

Annoying.

His thoughts had actually been disrupted by a dog.

Perhaps he should return to the office and study the importance of the law.

At worst, he could go to the interrogation room and teach some idiots a few legal lessons.

That would save them from running around and making fools of themselves again, disgracing Alphas.

They returned to the bustling downtown area. Compared to the somewhat prosperous town, this place was cleaner, and the streetlights shone brighter.

This was the life that belonged to him.

He instructed the driver to take him to a bar.

When he was in a bad mood, a little alcohol would make things better.

That was what everyone said.

Wan Ying tugged at his bothersome tie and eyed his shoes with distaste.

Sure enough, this proper suit-and-tie look did not suit him.

Dark work clothes suited him better.

Sneakers were more comfortable too. They felt great against the ground.

He wondered whether stepping on a dog's tail would make the Puppy bite back.

The thought surfaced.

He glanced at his leg.

The faint ache above his knee reminded him that he had just been bitten by a dog.

Since he had been bitten by a Puppy, should he get a rabies shot?

What if he caught some disease... No abandoned dog would take responsibility.

He arrived at the agreed meeting place.

"A glass of plain water."

Wan Ying sat in an empty seat and gave the order coldly.

One sentence drew curious looks from several friends.

"Bro, are you okay? You came to a bar to drink plain water?"

"Did a fever fry your brain? Why are you talking nonsense?"

His lively friend shifted away with his wineglass, speaking disdainfully. "Bro, from now on, don't tell people we know each other. I'm afraid they'll think I'm crazy."

"Wait, something's off. Bro, what's wrong? You seem to be in a bad mood."

"Hehe, I know about this. I heard a couple days ago that you redeemed an Omega for twenty million gold coins. You spent days in a lover's embrace. How did it feel? Did you enjoy finally being off the market?"

When it came to gossip, there was always more curiosity.

Wan Ying frowned deeply and drained the glass of water in one gulp.

The alcohol at this bar did not taste very good, and even the water was hard to swallow. It was not sweet at all.

"Stop prying into my business. I'm very annoyed right now."

He picked up a glass of liquor, took a sip, and immediately set it down.

It was not as good as his own alcohol.

Too lazy to respond, he let the atmosphere lapse into silence.

The group exchanged looks and manually muted themselves. "Fine, fine, we won't ask any more. But drinking is okay, right?"

"You finally have a long vacation. How are you planning to spend it? If you stay in this city, those old men will definitely drag you off to teach again."

"Can't help it. Our bro is just too outstanding."

"Exactly. Our Brother Wan is still the best. It wasn't easy to snatch a medal from that guy."

"What top executive? Didn't he still lose to our Brother Wan? Without that honor, he probably won't be transferred over anytime soon."

They clinked glasses and continued chatting.

"Better if he doesn't come. I heard that guy's methods are incredibly brutal. Compared with Brother Wan, he might even be worse."

"What was his name again? It seems that ever since he appeared, no one has known his identity."

"A guy who doesn't even dare reveal his name—how impressive can he be? It's just those people spreading exaggerated rumors to put on a show. Anyone can brag. Just brag big."

"You have a point. The people he leads have always been secretly competing with us. Good thing Brother Wan came to save us, or we'd still be suppressed by those guys."

"Enough, enough. Don't mention people who kill the mood. Bro, I'm going to Mar Island in a couple of days. Why don't you come with me? I'll let my subordinates meet the legendary Myriad God."

"Bro, don't listen to him. Come with me. I want to bring you along to give me some prestige too."

As they talked, they dragged the topic back to him again.

Wan Ying stroked the rim of his wineglass. The reflection in the glass showed only himself.

He was inexplicably annoyed.

This vacation was really useless. He might as well save it for when he got married.

No, that was not right. He would never get married.

Vacation or no vacation, it was equally boring.

"The old man told me to visit the team in a couple of days. Maybe those people on the other side are coming over for an exchange visit."

As soon as he finished speaking,

a chorus of exclamations erupted.

"Fuck, seriously? Are they sick? What are they coming here for? Learn my ass."

"I bet the exchange is just an excuse. They're really here to steal our methods, aren't they? They lost the competition and admitted defeat, so they found an excuse to come secretly learn our skills."

"I don't think much of those people at all. They think they can do whatever they want just because their ranks are high. So what if they're top officials? We have special-grade titles too."

"We're all S-rank Alphas. What makes them so noble?"

Since they stood on different sides, they naturally would not like their competitors.

Wan Ying finished the liquor in his glass and poured himself another.

He offered a reasonable analysis. "Ignoring the competitive relationship, do you really think he couldn't beat us? If that guy's pheromones hadn't suddenly gone out of control and sent him berserk, I wouldn't have found an opening, and I wouldn't have won that match."

Who knew how such a coincidence had happened? That top executive he had never met had suffered pheromone disorder at exactly the right time, causing the situation to spiral out of control and allowing him to seize that medal.

Thinking back on the entire match, that guy really did have some skill. Every arrangement had precisely anticipated his decisions.

But there was one thing he could not understand.

Why had his pheromones suddenly become disordered just before the critical moment?

He had been so close to winning.

Was he deliberately throwing the match, or had it truly just been such a coincidence?