SCOM - Chapter 44
Chapter 44
The military academy students from the south remembered what Qian Mao had said and went to the weapons development department, room 404, to get light guns. Students from that department quickly assembled the parts, and a large group of military students headed north to rendezvous.
On the way, they encountered Gashiro soldiers. Judging by their numbers, it was clear they had intended to carry out a massacre of the southern students under the cover of night. But this time, the people from the First Military Academy were prepared. Not only did they have guns, but they also had several light guns, giving them the advantage. They managed to pass through unimpeded.
The north wasn't in chaos either. The alarm in the Alpha dormitory building was the first to sound. Initially, Jiang Hong and others were holding the fort, and they had already dispatched several large groups to sweep through the north, not missing a single corner.
Ultimately, the students of the First Military Academy successfully converged in the large plaza at the border between the north and south.
“Where are the others?” Before heading to the broadcasting station, Jiang Hong had instructed Yan Yan to do a headcount. After tallying by class and excluding those who had left campus for home, Yan Yan discovered that nearly three hundred people were missing.
“They went to the base station.” Someone in the crowd raised their hand. “They’re from the warship department, specializing in information and communication. They said the signal around the school was being blocked, so the school’s base station must have a problem. They went to fix it.”
Yan Yan glanced around and noticed that the missing people were all students from the south. They didn't yet know that Jiang Hong had already led a group there.
“Are all three hundred of them senior students from the warship department?” Yan Yan asked.
“No, only about ten of them. More than half of the others are from the Disciplinary Committee.”
The Disciplinary Committee… that should be the one Ji Yuezhi leads, Yan Yan nodded. He led his people to patrol the perimeter of the plaza, not pursuing the three hundred. Right now, they had to do their own part and trust the others.
After regrouping, the First Military Academy students quickly noticed something: no more Gashiro soldiers were coming from the north; enemies were only appearing from the south.
At first, everyone thought it was a Gashiro trick to make them lower their guard. But then Yan Yan remembered the emergency notice he received from Zuo Luohuan and the alarm in the Alpha building. He belatedly realized that Zuo Luohuan had intercepted all the Gashiro forces in the north.
Now, they just had to hold on until the signal was restored and they could contact the instructors, or wait for Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi’s group to arrive.
Yan Yan’s guess was correct. Zuo Luohuan had intercepted all the Gashiro soldiers in the north.
The Gashiro had spared no expense, intending to eliminate the most outstanding students from the four military academies’ two grade levels. Zuo Luohuan even suspected that the Omega who had nearly had his carotid artery severed was able to successfully release his warning pheromones because the Gashiro had allowed it intentionally.
A large number of Gashiro soldiers besieged Zuo Luohuan, each one powerful and delivering fatal blows.
Zuo Luohuan fought back while running up a building, not stopping until she reached the roof.
“I just got back from the military exercise. I haven't eaten or slept well for ten days, and I'm very tired.” After a round of exchanges with these people, Zuo Luohuan glanced down at a wound on her waist and suddenly said, “So, right now… you’re all really annoying me.”
The Gashiro soldiers heard Zuo Luohuan’s words but couldn’t quite grasp her meaning. They just gripped their curved sabers and slashed at her.
Zuo Luohuan sidestepped the saber attacks, placed one hand on her other wrist, removed the weight band, and threw it to the ground, where it smashed a deep pit.
She looked at the deep pit by her feet and suddenly clicked her tongue. “A bit of a waste.”
With that, she took off the other weight band and threw it at a Gashiro soldier.
Seeing something coming at him, the Gashiro soldier instinctively tried to slash it with his saber, but the saber snapped with a clang. The strap of the weight band broke, revealing its contents: a long, thin piece of black metal, which then smashed and broke another Gashiro soldier’s leg.
Freed from the restraints on her hands, Zuo Luohuan’s attack speed instantly doubled. The Gashiro soldiers had never imagined she had been suppressing her strength all along.
The Gashiro couldn't even react. They only saw a flash of white light from Zuo Luohuan’s sleeve before losing consciousness. In just twenty minutes, she had turned the tables and killed them all.
Zuo Luohuan stepped over the corpses on the ground, bent down to pick up the two weight bands she had thrown, and then headed downstairs. When she returned to the rooftop, she was carrying a bucket of alcohol.
She piled the bodies of the dead Gashiro soldiers together, doused them with alcohol, and finally set them ablaze.
An overly brilliant light instantly erupted from the rooftop.
Zuo Luohuan held the two weight bands in one hand and turned to look out beyond the military academy. Even without a communication signal, the fire she had lit on the tallest old building of the First Military Academy was enough for those in the capital to notice something was wrong.
If the members of the Military Committee hadn't all been silenced by the Gashiro, that is.
Zuo Luohuan held the two weight bands and casually walked down the stairs. As she passed a large cabinet in the hallway, she kicked open the bottom compartment, placed the two weight bands inside, closed the door, and returned to the staircase, vaulting over the handrail to jump down.
After she left, the bottom of the cabinet where the weight bands were stored suddenly gave way, as if crushed by an unbearable load, and fell off completely.
Zuo Luohuan made her way from the north, and whenever she encountered Gashiro soldiers, she would lure them to the roof of a nearby building and set a fire.
After she lit the first fire, Jiang Hong’s arrogant voice blared from the broadcast, ensuring that all the Gashiro soldiers hiding in the First Military Academy understood how the fires on those northern rooftops were being started.
After clearing out most of the Gashiro in the north, Zuo Luohuan glanced toward the dormitory building for students from other schools and finally turned to walk in that direction.
She wondered how Ji Yuezhi was doing.
In reality, Ji Yuezhi hadn't fought much. After Guan Xue fired her one and only treasured rocket shell to no great effect, she was furious.
She carefully set the rocket launcher aside, gripped her gun with both hands, and blew the head off every Gashiro soldier she saw.
“It’s been over an hour. Hasn’t anyone noticed something’s wrong at the First Military Academy?” An Yingjing was in considerable pain, but he still had to talk to Ji Yuezhi.
Ji Yuezhi raised a hand and discreetly pressed his gland, which for some reason felt sore, swollen, and hot.
An Yingjing quietly glanced around. He saw that Luo Shaoyuan and Cha Lili had just come downstairs and were standing far away on the first floor, not approaching. He figured they were afraid of being affected by his pheromones. When he looked back, he saw Ji Yuezhi’s hand on the back of his neck.
Ignoring the pain in his own neck, An Yingjing sidled up to Ji Yuezhi, winking. He whispered, “Hey, what’s with you? Although higher-level Omegas are more sensitive to poppy, you… do you have someone you like?”
His pheromones would only induce a pleasant dream in an Alpha who didn't have a crush. For an Omega, it would at most smell nice and make them a little dazed; their gland would definitely not react.
Ji Yuezhi lowered his hand and swept a cold glance at An Yingjing. “Perhaps you should go check on your teammates.”
“Hey.” An Yingjing had more to say to Ji Yuezhi, but that one look made him instantly forget what it was. In the end, he could only call out to Ji Yuezhi’s departing back.
Just as Ji Yuezhi was finishing up here, he was stunned to see Zuo Luohuan arrive. When he then saw her become dazed again, his expression turned completely cold.
However, Zuo Luohuan’s reaction wasn’t as strong as last time. She was dazed for less than a minute before she came to her senses, raising a hand to cover her nose. “Such a strong smell. Did An Yingjing die?”
Ji Yuezhi pursed his lips. “No.”
Zuo Luohuan nodded nonchalantly. Seeing that the surrounding students seemed to be in stable condition, she examined Ji Yuezhi closely and asked him, “Are you hurt?”
The gland on the back of Ji Yuezhi’s neck was already aching painfully. Even though An Yingjing’s wounds were now fully treated, the scent of poppy still lingered in the air. Perhaps because of Zuo Luohuan’s sudden appearance, he felt the scent of ice and snow that clung to his nose growing stronger and stronger.
“I’ll go get some hemostatic gel,” Zuo Luohuan said, glancing at a spot not far away.
She had a wound on her waist. Given Zuo Luohuan’s pain tolerance, treating it wasn't an immediate priority, but she still remembered how strongly Ji Yuezhi had reacted to the faint scent of her blood on the night of his coming-of-age ceremony.
As Zuo Luohuan walked over, Qian Mao was treating another student’s wounds. “Do you have any hemostatic gel?”
Qian Mao looked up and was first delighted to see Zuo Luohuan, then remembered something. “An Yingjing’s pheromones are still here. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I won’t be a second time…” Zuo Luohuan suddenly whipped her head around, looking in Ji Yuezhi’s direction.
“Hemostatic gel.” Qian Mao had already found it and held it up for Zuo Luohuan.
“Give me an inhibitor,” Zuo Luohuan said, turning to Qian Mao, all emotion vanishing from her face.
Qian Mao let out an ‘ah’. “An Alpha inhibitor? We didn’t bring many, and the students from the other schools used them all.”
“An Omega inhibitor,” Zuo Luohuan said, suppressing something.
“We didn’t bring any. They’re still in the infirmary.” Qian Mao was startled by Zuo Luohuan’s expression and stood up to explain, “We came in a hurry, and Omega inhibitors aren’t used much, so we didn’t grab any.”
Zuo Luohuan threw a line at Qian Mao: “You continue bandaging them. I’m taking Ji Yuezhi away for a moment to handle something.”
“Huh?” Qian Mao didn’t understand.
Zuo Luohuan strode quickly to where Ji Yuezhi was still standing. In front of him, she bent down, removed the weight bands from her ankles, and tossed them aside. Then she stood up, bent her knees slightly, and turned her head to him. “Get on.”
Ji Yuezhi stared at Zuo Luohuan’s back, somewhat dazed, his eyes filled with undisguised confusion.
“Ji Yuezhi.” Zuo Luohuan turned her face to meet his eyes, her expression stern. “Get on.”
She could already smell his pheromones, like a volcano that had been building up pressure and was about to erupt.
Zuo Luohuan had a suspicion, but now was not the time to verify it. She had to get him to the infirmary.
Ji Yuezhi pursed his lips. His gland was already hurting badly, and his vision was starting to blur. He didn't even realize that his steps were stumbling as he walked toward Zuo Luohuan.
Finally, Zuo Luohuan carried Ji Yuezhi on her back and ran towards the nearest medical room. Without the restraint of the weight bands on her ankles, she moved almost like a shadow.
Once they were far away from the other students, Ji Yuezhi’s pheromones finally erupted, like a long-suppressed volcano.
Being closest to him, Zuo Luohuan’s steps faltered for a moment. At that moment, she smelled the familiar iris scent, but it was completely different from the night of his coming-of-age ceremony. It was so sweet it was almost cloying.
Carrying him, Zuo Luohuan expressionlessly kicked open the infirmary door, put him down, locked the door tightly, and turned on the circulation system. Just as she was about to turn and search for an Omega inhibitor, a pair of hands reached out from behind and embraced her.
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