SCOM - Chapter 39
Chapter 39
"An Yingjing's pheromones are problematic," Qian Mao explained nearby.
Zuo Luohuan turned to look at the two people in the water who had gradually stopped struggling and splashing, then looked back and asked, "Does it only work on Alphas?"
Qian Mao shook his head. "Not entirely. It seems to have a confusing effect on us Omegas too, but not as severe as yours."
"I see..." Zuo Luohuan lowered her head, looked at her soaked clothes, completely unable to remember how she ended up in the water. But that wasn't the point. She walked towards Ji Yuezhi, stopping a few steps away, and asked, "What are An Yingjing's pheromones?"
Ji Yuezhi turned his face away and said to the two on the bank, "You can pull Jiang Hong and Yan Yan up now."
Only then did he answer Zuo Luohuan's question: "Possibly Poppy."
This pheromone was too rare. Anyone else might not dare guess 'Poppy'.
"Poppy?" Zuo Luohuan raised her hand, wiped the water from her face, then suddenly chuckled, seeming to understand why even she ended up in such a sorry state. "United Military Academy hid this quite deeply."
Yan Yan and Jiang Hong in the water had been pulled ashore. The two lay panting on the bank. Yan Yan's forehead was still bleeding from banging his head earlier.
"Damn!" Jiang Hong suddenly flipped over, looked around, then touched his wet clothes. "What happened?!"
He only remembered fighting the second-gen robot dogs one second, then having an incredibly ambiguous dream the next. When he woke up again, he was in this sorry state.
"You were in heat," Guan Xue said, hugging her gun with schadenfreude. "All things considered, we Betas are better off."
Jiang Hong initially thought she was talking nonsense – he wasn't an Omega – but then he looked up and saw that all the Alphas in Team 2 were soaked, as if they had all taken a dip in the water. Finally, his gaze landed on Ji Yuezhi. "Captain, you too..."
Guan Xue shrugged. "Got pulled down accidentally just now."
"By me?" Jiang Hong pointed at himself in horror. When did he become so bold as to provoke someone from the Ji family?
"No." Guan Xue sympathetically patted her light gun.
Nearby, Yan Yan also slowly stood up. His forehead was broken by his own banging, and it hurt when he touched it. He hissed, then seriously said to Ji Yuezhi not far away, "Captain, sorry for pulling you into the water."
"Since everyone is awake, we should go," Ji Yuezhi said, turning around.
Qian Mao nudged Yan Yan with his elbow, whispering, "Jiang Hong was thrown into the water by Guan Xue. You and I carried you down together."
"Not Yan Yan either, then..." Jiang Hong came over upon hearing this, covered his mouth, then looked towards Zuo Luohuan in front. "Luohuan, did you hear?"
Zuo Luohuan heard. She also knew why Ji Yuezhi was soaked like them. She quickly walked forward and called out to Ji Yuezhi, "Sorry."
Ji Yuezhi paused while bandaging the wound on his arm. "No need. I wasn't vigilant enough."
"I'll help you?" Zuo Luohuan pointed to the gauze and asked. Perhaps because they were too close, she felt the faint, sweet iris scent lingering in her nose and mouth.
Ji Yuezhi finished bandaging quickly, raised his injured arm, held one end of the gauze with one hand, bit the other end with his mouth, and swiftly tied a knot, leaving her no room to help.
"If United Military Academy's An Yingjing has Poppy pheromones, they have a huge advantage," Jiang Hong came over and said. "Which military academy doesn't have Alphas making up half the team?"
"Let's reach the secret base as soon as possible," Ji Yuezhi bypassed Zuo Luohuan, walked to Ding Wuming on the stretcher. His low fever had subsided; he should be able to get down tomorrow.
Zuo Luohuan glanced sideways at Ji Yuezhi ignoring her and stood there blankly for a moment, until Jiang Hong spoke.
"Stop spacing out. His arm injury is probably because he saved you. Just now, you were facing the most second-gen robot dogs. You pulled him into the water too. Can he not be angry?" Jiang Hong shook his head and sighed. "This soaked feeling, I don't feel good either, let alone Ji Yuezhi. By the way, does he have OCD?"
Ji Yuezhi looked like someone with OCD.
The group set off again. The soaked clothes dried after walking for half a day in the wind. Ding Wuming on the stretcher woke up. He felt the team's atmosphere was a bit heavy.
At night, everyone found a cave to rest. Ding Wuming struggled to get up and move around. "I feel like I can walk now. No need for you guys to carry me tomorrow."
"Okay, but keep the stretcher," Ji Yuezhi looked at Ding Wuming's pale face. "If you really can't hold on, you can still lie down. It won't affect much."
Zuo Luohuan and Guan Xue weren't in the cave; they went out to find food. The backpack only contained one compressed biscuit, not enough for ten days.
The two set traps nearby, caught three rabbits and two pheasants. Guan Xue climbed down from a tree, holding some non-poisonous wild fruits in her arms. She walked towards the stream; Zuo Luohuan was there processing the dead prey.
"An Yingjing also took one of our energy blocks. Someone in their team got shot in the leg by Ji Yuezhi." Guan Xue squatted upstream, pouring out the wild fruits to wash. "But An Yingjing's pheromones are indeed terrifying, almost making everyone fall into illusions."
Guan Xue chattered on, suddenly bumped Zuo Luohuan, and asked with a grin, "What Omega pheromones did you smell back then? I heard Poppy can evoke the pheromones one desires most deep down."
Zuo Luohuan was skewering the cleaned rabbit onto a wooden stick. Her hand paused. "Forgot."
Guan Xue smacked her lips regretfully. "Right, you all forgot. Probably just a vague feeling."
She sometimes wondered what it felt like to be an Alpha or Omega. Pheromone combination and fusion sounded quite interesting.
The two finished cleaning the food and walked towards the cave.
A fire had already been started inside. Zuo Luohuan handed the skewered prey to Yan Yan and Jiang Hong to roast.
"Eat, rest for three hours, then we continue," Ji Yuezhi said, leaning against the cave wall.
Zuo Luohuan sat opposite him. Through the firelight, she glanced at Ji Yuezhi, recalling Guan Xue's question by the stream, feeling somewhat dazed. What pheromones did she smell? She had indeed forgotten, only remembering the faint, sweet iris scent lingering in her nose and mouth after waking up.
Because of the consecutive blows, the First Military Academy team was much quieter during their journey, resting only three or four hours each night, spending the rest of the time traveling. Fortunately, Ding Wuming gradually recovered his strength and started walking with the team, not slowing them down.
On the seventh day, the teams still advancing suddenly received a notification through the unified channel in their helmets.
—First round, Northern Military Academy, all eliminated.
Hearing this news, the First Military Academy team knew Northern Military Academy had likely encountered United Military Academy. Northern Military Academy had the most Alphas among the four academies, six in total, plus one Omega. If Northern Military Academy had no psychological preparation, encountering An Yingjing releasing Poppy pheromones, total annihilation was the only possibility.
Meanwhile, the Yundong Military Academy team thought Northern Military Academy had clashed with the First Military Academy and been eliminated.
"Then... is the First Military Academy team severely injured too?"
Cha Lili shook his head, looking at the distant mountain peak. "It's too early. They should only reach the secret base tomorrow at the earliest. They wouldn't fight recklessly at this time. No one is near the secret base yet."
He thought for a long time, finally settling on one possibility: "Perhaps Zuo Luohuan is stronger than we imagined, so the First Military Academy dared to make a move."
Yundong Military Academy had never considered United Military Academy from the start.
...
On the eighth day, Ji Yuezhi's team finally arrived near the secret base. Iron fences surrounded it, with second-gen robot dogs constantly patrolling. Sneaking in would take some time.
Ji Yuezhi had several people split up to deal with the robot dogs. Having dealt with these second-gen robot dogs along the way, they were quite proficient now.
"Here, go!" Zuo Luohuan broke through a defensive opening first.
Everyone ran over, gripping their light guns tightly, quickly passing through the entrance gate.
"According to the map, the technology is stored in the central control room on the lowest underground level." Ji Yuezhi pointed to the ventilation shaft above. "Guan Xue and Ding Wuming, go this way."
The two were the smallest, the best candidates for the ventilation shaft.
"The rest, take the elevator."
Taking the elevator didn't mean riding inside, but using the traction ropes outside the elevator car.
Even though the secret base's elevator exterior was spacious enough, five people squatting half-crouched on the elevator roof was still crowded, especially with a big guy like Yan Yan.
Ji Yuezhi went down first, followed by Yan Yan and Jiang Hong. Zuo Luohuan, last to descend, landed directly beside Ji Yuezhi. She reached out, grabbed the traction rope, right below his hand.
The elevator descended rapidly. Zuo Luohuan wasn't worried at all, even loosening her grip slightly, noticing the black lubricating oil on her palm. She tilted her head closer to Ji Yuezhi and whispered, "The traction rope is dirty."
She purely remembered Jiang Hong asking if Ji Yuezhi had OCD not long ago.
The elevator descended quickly, wind whistling past their ears. Logically, her voice should have been inaudible, but the speaker was Zuo Luohuan. Ji Yuezhi could ignore all surrounding factors and accurately capture everything related to her.
Especially since she spoke right beside his ear. Instantly, Ji Yuezhi recalled the feeling of her lips brushing against him in the water. For a moment, he wanted to pull away, yet felt reluctant.
This person was willing to get close to him; that was progress.
Zuo Luohuan finished speaking and pulled back. She was about to look up when she saw Ji Yuezhi's narrow eyes glance over coolly, carrying an inexplicable, lingering moisture.
She froze for a moment.
Long ago, Zuo Luohuan felt Ji Yuezhi's eyes held an inexplicable allure, completely at odds with his usual cold demeanor. She had dismissed it as an illusion.
Ji Yuezhi's eyes were very beautiful.
At this moment, Zuo Luohuan clearly recognized this conclusion.
Even in the dark elevator shaft, with only occasional light filtering through the elevator cracks, she could instantly capture Ji Yuezhi's gaze.
Suddenly realizing she was spacing out, Zuo Luohuan subtly stepped back, pulling distance between herself and Ji Yuezhi, clearing the messy thoughts from her mind, focusing on the elevator door below.
"We're here." Yan Yan noticed an automated transport vehicle inside the elevator preparing to exit and reminded them.
The moment the transport vehicle left the elevator, the five immediately jumped down from above, preparing to exit.
Qian Mao looked up at the scene outside the elevator, his mouth dropping open, his instinctive horrified catchphrase escaping, "Oh, my god!"
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