Oh crap, this world only had men and women

Before heading to the market, Mu Yi flipped through the Crystal City newcomer's handbook he had received the day before.

He found that the booklet opened with a long preface, apparently covering part of this world's history.

[In Crystal Era 3912, an unknown energy invaded the planet, triggering genetic mutations in nonhuman organisms and giving rise to countless Variants.]

[Variants possessed formidable power, and most were highly infectious, capable of transforming infected life-forms into bloodthirsty creatures of their own kind.]

[In Crystal Era 3918, seeking a chance at survival, our pioneering visionaries launched the "Gene Fusion Plan," injecting processed "Infection Sources" in an effort to acquire the power of mutation without losing their sanity.]

[In Crystal Era 3930, after countless sacrifices and tireless efforts, the "Gene Fusion Plan" achieved initial success. The Mutant Alliance was established, becoming the vanguard of the counteroffensive against the Variants.]

[In Crystal Era 3954, humanity's counteroffensive began to bear fruit. Some habitable territory was reclaimed, and Safe Bases were built one after another. Our proud, impregnable fortress-Crystal City-also rose during this time.]

[Yet... this was not the end. The road ahead for humanity remained strewn with thorns.]

[This would be a difficult and enduring trial...]

[May future generations grow strong, carry on the aspirations of our predecessors, safeguard the spark of humanity, and keep the light of civilization burning!]

After skimming through it, Mu Yi felt as though he were reading some foreign country's history. He couldn't relate to it at all.

So he flipped farther ahead. The next few pages listed basic information about fallen heroes, along with summaries of their contributions to humanity.

He specifically checked for anyone surnamed Yin, and sure enough, he found one.

Yin Xiangtong, female, formerly deputy director of the Mutation Research Institute. She had tragically died a heroic death from Variant infection in the summer of Crystal Era 4006, at the age of forty-six.

Throughout her illustrious life, she had made numerous outstanding and lasting contributions to humanity's welfare and safety:

She had successfully optimized Mutant Suppressants and further refined the Mutant Identity Bracelet system, the Variant data analysis framework, and more, providing vital support for the "Gene Fusion Plan" and efforts to prevent and control Variants.

"Died at forty-six..." Mu Yi rubbed his chin. Although Zhong Xuezhi's awkward attitude had led him to guess that Professor Yin was probably dead, he hadn't expected her to have died so young.

But according to the description above, Professor Yin had led an exceptionally distinguished life. Why did Zhong Xuezhi seem so reluctant to mention her?

After mulling it over, Mu Yi suddenly smacked himself on the head. "Tch, why am I always digging into things other people don't want to talk about?"

He should figure out his own problems first.

He noticed that the gender fields in these biographies simply listed male or female, with no information whatsoever about secondary genders.

That gradually brought a vague suspicion in his mind into focus.

After thinking for a moment, Mu Yi activated the Identity Bracelet on his wrist and opened the online search interface.

Then he searched the three keywords Alpha, Beta, and Omega, one after another.

All the results were words resembling those three letters, with definitions that had nothing to do with what he wanted.

He quickly returned to the search page and typed in "human secondary gender differentiation."

To his surprise, after he pressed the search button, the page spent ages loading as though it had frozen. When it finally finished, all it displayed was: no search results.

Mu Yi began to lose his composure, because he was now all but certain...

This world probably had no Alphas, let alone Omegas. It only had strange humans who seemed like Betas but weren't actually Betas.

Then his thoughts abruptly shifted, and he belatedly realized that, under the circumstances, he was the strange human.

"Hmm..." He shifted his legs, which were folded up on the sofa, and decided this was a problem.

As the only Alpha in this world, what was he supposed to do about his rut?

A world with only two sexes and no secondary genders certainly wouldn't have suppressants specifically for Alphas.

Mu Yi frowned and agonized over it for a long while without getting anywhere. In the end, all he could say was, "Forget it."

He could deal with future problems in the future. If he couldn't figure it out now, he wouldn't bother.

Mu Yi promptly put the problem out of his mind and turned his attention to something else.

Now that he understood this world's gender classifications, he finally grasped why Zhong Xuezhi kept stripping naked in front of him.

So he had been treating Zhong Xuezhi as someone of a different gender, while Zhong Xuezhi had been treating him as someone of the same gender.

Didn't that make all his earlier attempts to keep his distance for the sake of Zhong Xuezhi's reputation as a Beta look fucking stupid?

Fuck... no wonder that bastard kept saying I acted like a girl!

Mu Yi scrubbed a hand over his face and considered his chances of swiftly silencing Zhong Xuezhi for good.

But his final conclusion was: he couldn't beat him.

After a moment of silence, he said again, "Forget it."

As long as I'm not embarrassed, someone else will be.

Mu Yi never wasted energy tormenting himself. He kept his legs crossed and continued leafing through the newcomer's handbook.

The next section introduced the three major bodies under the Crystal Arbitration Council: the Mutant Alliance, the Mutation Research Institute, and the City Defense Office.

These three bodies were known as the Crystal City Delta, and the introduction mainly outlined the Delta's brief history of development.

But it was a public information handbook, after all. It was nothing but pretty words, lavishing mindless praise on them at great length.

Mu Yi promptly found his way onto Crystal City's internal network, pulled up a forum, and read the two side by side.

That gave him much more detailed and comprehensive information.

Of course, what interested Mu Yi most was the information about Mutants.

After browsing for a while, Mu Yi learned that becoming a Mutant required participating in the "Gene Fusion Plan"-in other words, having a Variant's "Infection Source" injected into one's body.

However, the plan carried extremely high risks. Countless volunteers had died right on the operating table when gene fusion failed.

Even those lucky enough to succeed faced serious side effects. Once their mutation value rose too high, they risked losing their sanity and becoming Variants themselves-the "Infected."

At that, Mu Yi understood. Borrowing power that defied nature was bound to come at a price.

Although the "Gene Fusion Plan" had brought humanity unprecedented opportunities and possibilities, the risks and challenges lurking behind it were equally immense.

For once, he felt a flicker of sympathy. "The humans in this world seem to have it pretty damn rough."

After making that assessment, he continued flipping through the handbook, but stopped less than two pages later. The remaining content wasn't worth reading.

It was all rules that new residents had to follow after entering the city, packed together in dense blocks. Whoever wanted to read them could go right ahead.

Mu Yi snapped the booklet shut, then raised his arms and stretched.

It was nearly ten in the morning. Zhong Xuezhi had been out for quite a while, and it was time for him to get his own business done.

He rose from the sofa and strolled leisurely outside.

Before leaving, Zhong Xuezhi had taught him how to use the small Teleportation Array. Following what he remembered, Mu Yi operated it with ease and teleported successfully.

Crystal City's market covered an enormous area and drew huge crowds.

The moment Mu Yi arrived, all he could see were the backs of people's heads.

Although he enjoyed a lively atmosphere, he didn't like being packed into a crowd, so he found an exchange shop with fewer customers and stepped inside.

The little shop had a very old-fashioned decor and wasn't large, with room for only three to five sets of tables and chairs. A counter stood directly opposite the entrance, with a little old man seated behind it, presumably the owner.

The little old man wore a reading monocle. When he looked up and saw Mu Yi, the corners of his mouth lifted, only to droop again a moment later.

Although Mu Yi carried himself with distinction, the old man noticed that he wore a silver Identity Bracelet reserved for ordinary people, along with the free Crystal City uniform worn only by residents at the very bottom...

The smile that had just appeared on the little old man's face vanished completely. He propped up his thin, pointed chin with a listless expression, making it clear that he wasn't particularly interested in serving him.

The shop's sole attendant was no different. After giving Mu Yi a few glances, the attendant went off to do something else, not even bothering to greet him.

Mu Yi shrugged indifferently and sauntered straight up to the little old man's counter with his arms folded.

Then he asked in a concerned tone, "Hey, why the funeral face? Someone in your family die?"

The little old man sprang out of his chair. "Pah! Someone in your family died!"

The smile on Mu Yi's face deepened, and he offered sincere praise. "Pretty spry, aren't you, old man?"

He had jumped surprisingly high.

Thoroughly infuriated, the little old man pointed straight at the door. "Get out. I'm not buying that junk of yours!"

"Huh?" Mu Yi found that rather novel. This was the first time anyone had thought he looked like someone selling junk.