Practically a second parent

The barrage of comments went blank for a moment.

Then they came flooding in like an avalanche!

[Aaaaaah, Tao Miaomiao is mighty!!]

[Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, Xie Lin is fucking amazing!]

[Taking down an S-Class Alpha-that ought to give him bragging rights for ten years, right?]

[Other than "holy shit" and "awesome," I don't even know what to say anymore!]

[The holy flame shines, the holy flame blazes! All our disciples, meow meow meow meow!]

[Aaaaaah, Holy Flame Meow Meow Cult!]

[Fuck, what happened to Brother Xiao and Brother Huang? Did they go easy on him because the Omega was pretty?]

[Oh, come on. If they couldn't beat him, just say so. Going easy? I think your brain's waterlogged!]

[Our Tao Miaomiao already beat the crap out of A-Rank Alphas, okay?]

[World, listen to the sound of their egos shattering!]

Song Yunshen came running over, eyes wide and howling, reaching out to hug Xie Lin.

Suddenly, a palm pressed against his chest.

"Stay right there. Don't move!"

Lu Ye stood sideways with an arm around Xie Lin, like a dog guarding its food.

"What are you trying to do? Harass my wife? I'll beat you to death!"

Xie Lin glared at him.

"Get off!"

Yue Lan and Wu Xinyou walked over, raised their hands to high-five him, then both gave him a thumbs-up.

"Impressive. Even I might not have managed that."

"Don't be modest, Sister Lan. You definitely could. He's only S-Minus. If it were Xiao Lie, I couldn't have done it. I have that much self-awareness."

In his excitement, Song Yunshen slid onto his knees and hugged Xie Lin's leg.

"Please take me in, boss! Let me join you!"

"Tsk, get up already. Pack up so we can go."

Lu Ye looked Xie Lin up and down, his eyes full of concern.

"Are you hurt?"

Xie Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you say you trusted me?"

"Trusting you doesn't mean I don't worry about you..."

Lu Ye gazed steadily at him, flecks of sunlight falling into his eyes, a little dazzling.

Xie Lin cleared his throat and glanced away.

"Relax, I'm fine. Let's go pick up Sister Zhiwei..."

Before he finished, a shriek pierced the air.

"Aaaaaah, you were amazing! I saw everything from the tree!"

With backpacks covering her front and back, Yu Zhiwei came bouncing toward them.

Yue Lan hurried forward with a smile, took a few, and put them on her own back.

Wu Xinyou sighed.

"An Alpha really is an Alpha. Your stamina is amazing, Sister Lan. Not like mine. Look..."

He raised his slightly trembling hand and held it out in front of Xie Lin.

"I'm almost spent."

"Brother Youyou, you're really amazing. Did you train?"

"Mm. I've been interested in sanda since I was little. Unfortunately, after I differentiated into an Omega, I wasn't as strong as before. If I'd differentiated into an Alpha, heh, I'd definitely be S-Rank!"

Chatting and laughing, they returned to the battlefield, untied the people who had been bound, and woke He Jianing.

"What are your plans?"

The others immediately stood up straight and looked at Xie Lin with burning eyes.

"We're coming with you. Please take us in, boss!"

"..."

He Jianing looked utterly bewildered.

He couldn't understand how things seemed to have changed after he'd been unconscious for just a little while.

The corner of Xie Lin's mouth twitched. He looked up at the drone overhead, waving his hands as though forming hand seals.

"I'm not involved in organized crime!"

Director Sha burst out laughing.

Director Diao shook his head.

"They're really impressive. They even drove Xiao Lie back."

"Oh, please."

Director Sha waved a hand.

"A trifling matter."

"But..."

Director Sha spoke again.

"They've slowed down quite a bit. Xiao Lie will definitely kill all the hostages when he gets back. It's really hard to say how this will turn out."

"Mm..."

Director Sha looked at the big screen and sank into thought.

Onscreen, Xie Lin pulled Lu Ye's arm over, checked the time, then turned to He Jianing.

"Do you know where our teammates are being held?"

Before He Jianing could speak, another girl raised her hand.

"I know, I know! I'll take you there. But do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten all day. I'm starving..."

Song Yunshen drawled.

"Barbecue. Sixty thousand a piece, with a complimentary bottle of mineral water. Want some?"

"..."

[Good lord, jacking up the price on the spot!]

[Heh, I have to be the one who paid the least!]

[Hahahaha, he knows how to do business!]

Qiao An gaped in shock.

"Seriously, why don't you just rob me? We're all on the Celebrity Team. It's not like we only met today!"

"Tsk, that's no fun. Don't eat it if you don't want to!"

Qiao An pouted, sweeping her gaze over them.

"Quit bluffing. Where would you get barbecue?"

"I don't have any, but my boss does! Right?"

Song Yunshen turned to Xie Lin, secretly winked, and gave him a fawning smile.

Only an idiot would pass up money.

Catching his signal, Xie Lin immediately nodded.

"He's right. Want some? We can't heat it up right now, though, so you'll have to eat it cold. It's not that cold, actually. We grilled it at noon."

"But I don't have any money on me."

"That's all right..."

Xie Lin flashed his little white teeth.

"You can write an IOU!"

"But there's no pen or paper..."

Before Qiao An finished, Huang Jingrui, who was waiting nearby for the helicopter to pick him up, let out a howl.

Before he could speak, Xie Lin pointed at him.

"Don't talk. You're already dead!"

Huang Jingrui closed his mouth again.

Xie Lin reached out to pull off his tank top, but Lu Ye slapped his hand away and glared.

"No touching other Alphas. Leave this kind of grunt work to me!"

Like an innocent maiden being molested, Huang Jingrui folded his arms over his chest, ready to face death.

Lu Ye coaxed him as he stripped him.

"Look, you're dead anyway, so put what you have to good use and help my wife. It's your own fault your tank top is white."

"An innocent man gets in trouble for the treasure he carries. If you'd worn anything dark, we wouldn't even want it..."

Before he finished, he tugged hard and pulled the tank top off.

He also tore it into four pieces.

"Here, honey. Enough for four uses!"

Xie Lin took it with a grin, drew the Boning Knife from his waist, and cut Huang Jingrui's hand before anyone could react.

He raised a hand to beckon Qiao An.

"Come here, quick. Dip it in his blood and write an IOU..."

Qiao An: "..."

Song Yunshen: "..."

Huang Jingrui: "..."

Song Yunshen felt deeply wounded.

Why did Qiao An get to write with someone else's blood?

Just because she was a girl?

Didn't Betas have human rights?

Finally unable to bear it, Huang Jingrui burst into loud sobs.

"Could you stop picking on just me? Boohoo, you're such bullies..."

Fortunately, the roar of a helicopter drew closer from the distance, and it hovered overhead.

Otherwise, who knew how much blood Xie Lin would have drained from him.

Xie Lin looked at the IOU in satisfaction and carefully folded it.

Lu Ye took it, tucked it into his backpack for him, then pulled out a piece of grilled snake meat that was still a little warm and handed it to Qiao An.

Smelling the meat, Qiao An's lips puckered, and she cried with tears and snot streaming down her face.

"Boohoo, meat (chew, chew, chew), it smells so good (chew, chew, chew). Sixty thousand (chew, chew, chew) really isn't expensive at all, boohoo..."

Xie Lin patted her shoulder.

"Eat slowly. Nobody's going to take it from you. After-sales service included!"

While she wasn't looking, he turned, took a bottle of rock sugar pear drink from his backpack, and secretly passed it to Song Yunshen with a wink.

You know what to do!

Song Yunshen's eyes instantly went round, his lips puckered, and he nearly dropped to his knees before Xie Lin.

Practically a second parent!

If they weren't around the same age, he'd absolutely have called him Dad!