SCOM - Chapter 41
Chapter 41
An Yingjing was also an Omega, but his skills were no match for Ji Yuezhi. He was knocked out before he could even resist a single move.
“Ji Yuezhi!” Zuo Luohuan’s heart stopped for a moment when she saw the second-generation robot dog behind him raise its light gun. She rushed over, pulled him into her arms, and fired her own light gun at the robot dog. Her expression was grim as she looked at Ji Yuezhi. “Are you planning to get eliminated with them?”
Due to the momentum, Ji Yuezhi bumped against Zuo Luohuan. He hadn’t expected her to come and save him. The sour, tight feeling in his heart instantly vanished. He pressed his lips together, suppressing the upward curve of his mouth, and explained softly, “If An Yingjing releases his pheromones, you’ll all be in danger.”
Zuo Luohuan kicked An Yingjing over to the United Military Academy’s team members, snatched a light gun from a second-generation robot dog, and, holding a gun in each hand, fired in all directions. She spared a moment to say to Ji Yuezhi, “You’re the captain. This kind of thing should be left to the team members.”
Ji Yuezhi watched Zuo Luohuan kick the person away, and a trace of pleasure finally showed on his brow, though no one noticed. He said calmly, “Let you come over, only to be caught in his illusions again?”
“It won’t happen again.” Zuo Luohuan kicked down a robot dog in front of her, aiming her light gun at the chip in its head. “I won’t be affected by his pheromones again next time.”
The corners of Ji Yuezhi’s lips finally couldn’t be suppressed and curled up, but his words remained cold. “You underestimate the power of poppy.”
“At least not like before,” Zuo Luohuan said casually, quickly grabbing Ji Yuezhi’s hand and running towards a path they had just cleared.
“Trying to leave?” The members of the United Military Academy team desperately squeezed towards Zuo Luohuan’s group, luring the second-generation robot dogs in their direction to prevent them from escaping.
Just as Ji Yuezhi and Zuo Luohuan were about to be overwhelmed by the robot dogs, the Yundong Military Academy had an idea. Cha Lili prepared to take the key and password and flee, already feeling that victory was in his grasp.
【The First Military Academy has successfully obtained the Gashiro Empire's technology and won the first stage of the military exercise.】
After this sentence echoed in everyone’s helmet channels, the second-generation robot dogs also ceased their attacks.
Cha Lili: “…”
He looked at the angry and bewildered faces of the United Military Academy members, then scanned the First Military Academy’s people, and finally gritted his teeth to ask Ji Yuezhi, who was standing amidst the robot dogs, “Your two people weren’t injured? They entered the central control room through the vents?”
The idea of using the vents had occurred to the other military academies, but the vents in this secret base were narrow. It would be very difficult for their team members to get inside, and if they made any noise, they would be easily discovered.
The First Military Academy’s Guan Xue and Ding Wuming, one short and the other slender, were the only ones who fit the criteria to enter.
Initially, Cha Lili had been skeptical about their whereabouts, but after seeing the situation with the United Military Academy, he completely believed what Ji Yuezhi had said.
“One team member was indeed injured,” Ji Yuezhi said calmly. “But he got a bit better later and could move freely.”
“…” Some ‘freely moving’. He could crawl through the entire vent to the central control room.
Cha Lili quickly understood. “You wanted to cooperate to get us out of the way.”
Ji Yuezhi didn’t deny it, but there was another reason. He wanted to cause trouble for the United Military Academy, even if they had already lost their chance to win.
Glancing at the unconscious An Yingjing on the ground, Ji Yuezhi’s mood could be considered to have improved slightly.
The First Military Academy’s members went back to find Guan Xue and Ding Wuming. The two of them hadn’t had an easy time in the central control room either. There were second-generation robot dogs inside as well. Both had been shot in the arms and legs. Guan Xue had literally crawled to the control console to download that ‘technology’.
“This looks like a murder scene,” Jiang Hong said as soon as he entered the central control room, seeing two long, winding bloodstains on the floor, as if someone had done something terrible here.
“The first stage is over. Can we call for a transport aircraft to pick us up?” Guan Xue’s voice came from behind a table. She was clutching a wound on her thigh. “I think we need medical treatment.”
Jiang Hong and Yan Yan rushed over to bandage her wounds. Guan Xue reached out and handed the USB drive with the downloaded technology to Ji Yuezhi. “Captain, this should be the prize for the second stage.”
Ji Yuezhi took it and asked, “Where’s Ding Wuming?”
“He helped me lure away the second-generation robot dogs earlier.” Guan Xue pointed to the side. “I saw him fall behind that control console.”
Qian Mao hurried over to find Ding Wuming and discovered that the wound on his chest had reopened, his arm was also shot, and his face was covered in various scrapes.
Fortunately, the instructors still had some humanity and sent a transport aircraft to pick up the students from the various military academies.
After the first stage of the competition ended, they could rest for five days to recover from their injuries.
However, on the way back to the First Military Academy, the students from the Northern Military Academy kept glaring at the United Military Academy’s An Yingjing, especially Luo Shaoyuan.
“Despicable, shameless Omega!” Luo Shaoyuan spat. “To think you’d use your pheromones to confuse us.”
“Back when you Alphas used your pheromones to suppress us Omegas, I didn’t see anyone say a word about it being despicable. But when it’s our turn, it’s not allowed?” An Yingjing said, rubbing the back of his neck. The blow from Ji Yuezhi still throbbed faintly, a testament to how hard Ji Yuezhi had struck. His body was also covered in various footprints, mostly from the second-generation robot dogs, with the deepest one on his abdomen, which his teammates said was from Zuo Luohuan’s kick.
Luo Shaoyuan’s face turned shades of green and red from frustration, and she finally gave up. “…Are your pheromones really poppy?”
“Didn’t you all experience it firsthand?” An Yingjing was also annoyed. He had exposed his pheromones, yet he hadn’t even gotten through the door of the central control room and had been kicked for his troubles.
As the winners of the first stage, the First Military Academy had two people who had already passed out and were receiving treatment. The rest remained calm; after all, their journey hadn’t been easy.
After everyone disembarked from the transport aircraft, Instructor Jiao Ji stood before them and said, “In five days, someone will come to take you to the second stage’s competition grounds. Rest and recover well these few days.”
Every military academy’s team had injured members. They had no mind to cause trouble during these five days, choosing to stay in their dormitories to recuperate.
The next day happened to be a Saturday, so Zuo Luohuan went home for a meal with her mother.
“The United Military Academy has an Omega with poppy pheromones?” Yi Tong asked, sitting across from Zuo Luohuan.
Zuo Luohuan nodded. “The United Military Academy kept it well hidden. They probably wanted to make a big splash in the military exercise.”
“Even with them having those pheromones, your First Military Academy still won.” Yi Tong looked at her daughter with a hint of pride.
“It was Ji Yuezhi and a few other team members who held on,” Zuo Luohuan said, putting down her chopsticks. “All of us Alphas fell for it.”
“Little Ji is also very impressive, just like his father,” Yi Tong praised.
Zuo Luohuan suddenly remembered how Ji Yuezhi had dealt with An Yingjing in the secret base and chuckled. “He is quite similar. He holds a grudge.”
“Nonsense. You were classmates last year, and now you’re teammates.” Yi Tong warned her daughter. “Don’t go provoking him for no reason. Get along well with Little Ji.”
“Yes, yes.” Zuo Luohuan raised her hands. “We will definitely love and cherish each other.”
“You’re full already?” Yi Tong frowned, looking at the empty plate in front of her. “You didn’t eat much.”
“I had a snack on the way here.” Zuo Luohuan stood up. “I’m heading back to school now. I’ll come see you on the weekend after the competition is over.”
“Go on,” Yi Tong said. “The Military Committee and several other departments have been holding meetings recently. It’s been busy with all sorts of things piling up, so I might not be home.”
...
It was already dark when Zuo Luohuan returned to the First Military Academy. She walked along the tree-lined avenue, detoured to the Challenge Hall to watch for a while, and then went back to her dormitory.
In the middle of the night, Zuo Luohuan sensed something. She suddenly flipped up and stood by the window, pulling the curtain aside slightly to look downstairs.
—There was nothing below, only the occasional leaf drifting to the ground.
Zuo Luohuan’s gaze swept over the woods near the dormitory building. A few branches swayed with the wind. Everything was perfectly normal.
But she quickly opened her optical computer, sent a message to a group, and at the same time, pulled a gun from under her desk. As she broke the window and jumped out, she fired two shots—one at the alarm on the Alpha dormitory building, and the other at Jiang Hong’s window.
The alarm blared wildly, and the branches in the woods swayed even more violently.
“What’s going on?!”
“Fuck!”
“Did something happen?!”
The once-quiet Alpha building was instantly lit up with countless lights. Everyone rushed out without even changing their clothes.
Zuo Luohuan had already charged into the woods. As soon as she entered, a heavy scent of Omega pheromones filled the air. Her heart sank.
It wasn’t because the pheromones were distracting her, but because of the scent of decay they carried, which clearly indicated that this Omega was on the verge of death.
Zuo Luohuan moved even faster, finally spotting an Omega discarded under a tree. Her throat had been slit, and she could no longer speak. Even with one hand pressed to her throat, blood continued to pour out. Unable to speak, tears streamed from the corners of her eyes in desperation, while her other hand pointed frantically in one direction.
This Omega was wearing the badge of the Disciplinary Committee on her chest. She was a student on patrol tonight. According to the Disciplinary Committee’s structure, she should have had a partner.
Zuo Luohuan glanced back in the direction she had come from, then chased in the direction the Omega was pointing.
Just as she left, Jiang Hong arrived, carrying an emergency medical kit.
When the window was broken, Jiang Hong’s first reaction was to grab his gun. After the alarm sounded, he also grabbed the medical kit. The Alpha dormitory building didn’t lack fighters, but it did lack emergency medical kits that could save lives.
Jiang Hong pushed open his window and saw Zuo Luohuan’s retreating figure, so he followed her. Seeing the fallen Omega, he immediately took out a hemostatic coagulant, carefully moved her hand from her neck, and quickly sprayed it on.
The whole process took less than ten seconds. The bleeding was temporarily stopped. His forehead was covered in sweat. Seeing that she had stabilized, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that it was fortunate the wound wasn’t like Zuo Luohuan’s previous one, which couldn’t heal.
“Dead…” the Omega student hissed from her throat, her other hand pointing at the Disciplinary Committee badge on her chest.
Jiang Hong picked her up. “I’ll take you to the medical room first. Don’t worry about anything else for now.”
The student’s tears fell onto the blood-soaked ground. They had been attacked. The instructors were away for the weekend, with only a few left on duty. Her partner had sacrificed their life to buy her time to get to the nearest Alpha building and warn everyone, but she had failed and been caught. She had only managed to release her pheromones, hoping an Alpha would notice.
Fortunately… fortunately, someone had noticed.
At the same time, all the students from the secret Disciplinary Committee woke up. They had received a message to go to the assembly point to get their weapons.
Yan Yan was one of them. He only knew of one assembly point, the place Zuo Luohuan had taken him before, which was also the closest to their dormitory building.
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