SCOM - Chapter 39
Chapter 39
"There's a problem with An Yingjing's pheromones," Qian Mao explained from the side.
Zuo Luohuan turned to look at the two people in the water who were gradually ceasing their struggles, then looked back and said, "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 for you."
"I see..." Zuo Luohuan looked down at her soaked clothes, unable to remember how she had jumped into the water. But that wasn't the point. She walked toward Ji Yuezhi, stopping a few steps away. "What are An Yingjing's pheromones?" she asked.
Ji Yuezhi turned his face away and said to the two on the bank, "You can pull Jiang Hong and Yan Yan out now."
Only then did he answer Zuo Luohuan's question. "It might be Poppy."
This type of pheromone was too rare. Anyone else might not have even dared to guess 'Poppy'.
"Poppy?" Zuo Luohuan raised a hand to wipe the water from her face. She suddenly let out a laugh, seeming to understand why even she had ended up in such a sorry state. "The United Military Academy hides its secrets so deep."
Yan Yan and Jiang Hong had been pulled out of the water. They lay on the bank, gasping for breath. Yan Yan's forehead was still bleeding from where he had hit it earlier.
"What the hell!" Jiang Hong abruptly rolled over and sat up, looking around and feeling his drenched clothes. "What's going on?!"
He only remembered fighting second-generation robot dogs one moment, and the next, he was having an incredibly intimate dream. When he came to his senses again, he was in this wretched state.
"You went into a rut," Guan Xue said, gloating as she held her gun. "When all is said and done, it's still better to be a Beta."
Jiang Hong initially thought she was talking nonsense; he wasn't an Omega. But when he got up and looked around, he saw that all the Alphas in Team 2 were soaked, as if they had all taken a dip in the water. Finally, his gaze fell on Ji Yuezhi. "How come the Captain is also..."
Guan Xue shrugged. "He was accidentally pulled down just now."
"Me?" Jiang Hong pointed at himself in horror. When had he become so bold as to provoke a member of the Ji family?
"Nope." Guan Xue lovingly wiped her light gun.
Yan Yan, who was beside them, also slowly stood up. He had cut his own forehead, and it hurt when he touched it. He hissed in pain and said earnestly to Ji Yuezhi, who was not far away, "Captain, I'm sorry for pulling you into the water."
"Since everyone is clear-headed now, we should get going," Ji Yuezhi said, turning around.
Qian Mao winked at Yan Yan and whispered, "Jiang Hong was thrown into the water by Guan Xue. You were carried down by me and Guan Xue."
"So it wasn't Yan Yan either, then..." Jiang Hong leaned in to listen, then covered his mouth and glanced at Zuo Luohuan up ahead. "Luohuan, did you hear that?"
Zuo Luohuan heard. She also knew why Ji Yuezhi was as soaked as they were. She strode forward and called out to Ji Yuezhi, "Sorry."
Ji Yuezhi was bandaging a wound on his arm with gauze. "No need. It was my lack of vigilance."
"Want me to help?" Zuo Luohuan asked, pointing at the gauze. She didn't know if it was because she was too close, but she felt a faint, sweet scent of iris in her nose and mouth.
Ji Yuezhi bandaged his arm quickly. He lifted his injured arm, held one end of the gauze with one hand, and bit the other end with his teeth, swiftly tying a knot, leaving her no room to help.
"If the United Military Academy's An Yingjing has Poppy pheromones, they have a huge advantage," Jiang Hong said as he walked over. "In which military academy do Alphas not make up half the team?"
"We need to reach the secret base as soon as possible." Ji Yuezhi bypassed Zuo Luohuan and walked over to Ding Wuming on the stretcher. His low fever had subsided; he would probably be on his feet by the day after tomorrow.
Zuo Luohuan watched Ji Yuezhi ignore her, standing frozen for a moment until Jiang Hong spoke.
"Stop spacing out. His arm was probably injured saving you. You had the most second-generation robot dogs in front of you, and you even pulled him into the water. How could he not be angry?" Jiang Hong shook his head and sighed. "Being soaked like this is uncomfortable even for me, let alone Ji Yuezhi. By the way, does he have mysophobia?"
Ji Yuezhi looked like the type of person who would have mysophobia.
The group set off again. After walking for half a day, their drenched clothes were dried by the wind. Ding Wuming, on the stretcher, woke up. He felt that the atmosphere in the team had become a bit heavier.
When night fell, they found a cave to rest in. Ding Wuming struggled to get up and move around. "I think I can walk now. You won't have to carry me tomorrow."
"You can, but we'll keep the stretcher for now." Ji Yuezhi looked at Ding Wuming's pale face. "If you really can't take it, you can lie back down. It won't affect us too much."
Zuo Luohuan and Guan Xue were not in the cave. They had gone out to find food. There was only one piece of dry ration left in their backpacks, not enough to last ten days.
The two were setting traps nearby and had caught three rabbits and two pheasants. Guan Xue jumped down from a tree, her arms full of non-poisonous wild fruits. She walked toward the stream where Zuo Luohuan was cleaning the dead prey.
"An Yingjing also stole one of our energy blocks. One of their members was shot in the leg by Ji Yuezhi." Guan Xue squatted upstream, pouring out the wild fruits to wash them. "But An Yingjing's pheromones are truly terrifying. They can make almost anyone fall into a hallucination."
After chattering on for a bit, Guan Xue suddenly nudged Zuo Luohuan and asked with a grin, "What Omega pheromones did you smell back then? I heard Poppy can evoke the pheromones a person desires most deep down."
Zuo Luohuan, who was skewering the cleaned rabbit on a wooden stick, paused. "I forgot."
Guan Xue smacked her lips with a bit of regret. "Right, you all forgot. You probably only have a vague feeling."
Sometimes she really wanted to know what it was like to be an Alpha or an Omega. The blending and merging of pheromones sounded quite interesting.
After cleaning the food, the two headed back to the cave.
A fire had already been lit inside the cave. Zuo Luohuan handed the skewered prey to Yan Yan and Jiang Hong for them to roast.
"After we eat, we'll rest for three hours, then continue on our way," Ji Yuezhi said, leaning against the cave wall.
Zuo Luohuan sat opposite him, glancing at Ji Yuezhi through the firelight. She was a bit dazed as she recalled Guan Xue's question by the stream. She had indeed forgotten what pheromones she smelled. She only remembered the faint, sweet scent of iris in her nose and mouth after she came to her senses.
Due to two consecutive setbacks, the First Military Academy's team was much quieter as they marched. They only rested for three or four hours each night, spending the rest of the time on the move. Fortunately, Ding Wuming gradually regained his strength and began to walk with the group, no longer a burden.
On the seventh day, the remaining teams still on the move suddenly received a notification on the unified channel in their helmets.
—First stage: the Northern Military Academy has been completely eliminated.
As soon as this news came out, the people from the First Military Academy knew that the Northern Military Academy had likely run into the United Military Academy. This was because the Northern Military Academy had the most Alphas among the four schools, with six of them, plus one Omega. If the Northern Military Academy was caught unprepared, facing An Yingjing releasing Poppy pheromones could only mean total annihilation.
Meanwhile, the people from the Yundong Military Academy thought that the Northern Military Academy had clashed with the First Military Academy and been eliminated.
"Does that mean the people from the First Military Academy were also seriously injured?"
Cha Lili shook his head, looking at the distant mountain peaks. "It's too early. They would only go all out tomorrow when they're close to the secret base. Absolutely no one would be near the secret base at this time."
He thought for a long time and could only conclude one possibility: "Perhaps Zuo Luohuan is even stronger than we imagined, which is why the First Military Academy dared to make a move."
From beginning to end, the Yundong Military Academy never considered the United Military Academy a factor.
On the eighth day, Ji Yuezhi's team finally arrived near the secret base. It was surrounded by a chain-link fence, with second-generation robot dogs constantly patrolling. Sneaking in would take some time.
Ji Yuezhi had several people split up to deal with the second-generation robot dogs. After so many days of fighting them along the way, they had become quite proficient.
"Here, go!" Zuo Luohuan was the first to break through a defensive point.
Everyone ran over, gripping their light guns tightly, and quickly passed through the entrance.
"According to the map, the technology is stored in the central chamber on the lowest underground level." Ji Yuezhi pointed to the ventilation duct above. "Guan Xue and Ding Wuming, go this way."
The two of them were the smallest, making them the best candidates for the vents.
"Everyone else, take the elevator."
Taking the elevator didn't mean riding inside it, but on the traction cables on its exterior.
Even though the exterior of the secret base's elevator was large enough, it was still a bit crowded with five people squatting on the roof at the same time, especially with a big guy like Yan Yan.
Ji Yuezhi went down first, followed by Yan Yan and Jiang Hong. When Zuo Luohuan, the last one, came down, she landed right beside Ji Yuezhi. She reached out and grabbed the traction cable, her hand just below his.
The elevator was descending rapidly. Zuo Luohuan felt no sense of worry. Instead, she loosened her grip slightly, noticed the black lubricating oil on her palm, and leaned her face close to Ji Yuezhi, whispering, "The traction cable is so dirty."
She was simply reminded of Jiang Hong asking about Ji Yuezhi's possible mysophobia a short while ago.
The elevator descended quickly, the wind whistling in their ears. Normally, her voice would have been completely inaudible, but the person speaking to Ji Yuezhi was Zuo Luohuan. He could ignore all surrounding factors and precisely capture everything related to her.
Moreover, the words she whispered next to his ear instantly reminded Ji Yuezhi of the feeling of her lips pressing against his in the water. For a moment, he wanted to pull away, but he couldn't bear to.
Her willingness to get close to him was a form of progress in itself.
Zuo Luohuan had already pulled back after speaking. She was about to look up when she saw Ji Yuezhi's long, narrow eyes glance over at her, carrying an inexplicably bewitching and moist quality.
She was stunned for a moment.
For a long time, Zuo Luohuan had felt that Ji Yuezhi's eyes held an inexplicable touch of allure, completely at odds with his usual cold demeanor, so she had always dismissed it as her own misperception.
Ji Yuezhi's eyes were beautiful.
At this moment, Zuo Luohuan clearly recognized this conclusion.
Even in the pitch-black elevator shaft, with only occasional slivers of light peeking through the cracks of the elevator car, she could still catch Ji Yuezhi's gaze instantly.
Suddenly realizing she was distracted, Zuo Luohuan subtly took a few steps back, putting distance between herself and Ji Yuezhi. She cast aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind and focused on the elevator doors below.
"We're here," Yan Yan said, noticing an automated cargo machine inside the elevator preparing to exit.
The moment the automated cargo machine left the elevator, the five of them immediately jumped down from the roof and into the car, ready to exit.
Qian Mao looked up and saw the scene outside the elevator. His mouth fell open, and his terrified catchphrase instinctively came out: "Oh, my God!"
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