Chapter 58: Forced Into Heat
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The restaurant manager came over as soon as he saw Lu Yao and Elaine. “Good afternoon, Mr. Lu, Dr. Elaine.”
“Has Li Mo arrived?” Lu Yao asked.
“Twenty minutes ago. As you requested, I’ve seated him in your usual private room.”
“Has he ordered?”
“Li Mo said it’s his first time here and asked me to take care of it. I’ve prepared some dishes and the drinks and appetizers are already served.”
“Bring the rest of the dishes as well. Not too many. After that, don’t let anyone disturb the room.”
The manager nodded at Lu Yao’s stern expression. Their conversations often involved confidential matters, and the private nature of the 39 Restaurant made them regulars.
“No problem. I’ll also activate the soundproofing system.”
“Thank you.”
Lu Yao and Elaine did not immediately enter the room. They waited until all the dishes were served and the last staff member left with an empty tray. Then Lu Yao took out his portable olfactory stimulator and set it behind his head.
Countless scents instantly flooded his nose—strange yet stimulating. Lu Yao took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure whether he was trying to adapt to the restored sense of smell under electrical stimulation, or to calm his chaotic thoughts.
“You probably haven’t smelled food in a long time,” Elaine said, using mundane conversation to distract Lu Yao from becoming overly tense.
“Yes, a very long time.”
From being seriously injured in the CROSS laboratory experiment and losing his sense of smell, twenty-five years had passed. Lu Yao had grown accustomed to a life without taste. He had also grown accustomed to treating the alpha who had once marked him as a passerby in his life, letting the vague memories and lingering fixation drift away in the river of time.
“Let’s go.” Lu Yao called, and he and Elaine entered the room together.
Elaine had a secret agreement with the Federation Intelligence Bureau and the military, allowing her to know the details of the CROSS laboratory incident to better assist Lu Yao in treatment. Inside, the long table was filled with exquisite dishes—the aroma of roasted meats, the sweetness and tartness of fruits—all mingling in the air.
Yet no one sat at the table. Looking forward, a tall, strong figure stood by the wide floor-to-ceiling window. His medium-length hair, though groomed, still appeared rough and slightly unkempt due to years of neglect. Li Mo stood by the window, gazing at the white expanse where water met sky. Silent and rugged, he was just as his name implied, a stark contrast to his younger brother, Li Yan.
Hearing the door open, Li Mo turned. As Lu Yao entered, his eyes flickered slightly. Li Mo nodded from afar. “Hello, Chief Engineer Lu.”
“Hello.” Lu Yao’s expression remained calm and unchanged. He introduced the person accompanying him: “This is my endocrine synchronist, Elaine.”
Li Mo glanced at Elaine, opening his mouth as if to say something. Elaine understood his concern and smiled. “Mr. Li, I have a doctor-patient confidentiality agreement with Mr. Lu. Everything discussed today will remain private and will only be used as material for his treatment.”
Upon hearing this, Li Mo nodded and remained silent. He returned to the table as Lu Yao walked past, brushing by him; the distance between them was now less than a meter.
Li Mo instinctively stepped aside, but Lu Yao’s movement paused ever so slightly where Li Mo could not see.
Elaine, who had been observing Lu Yao closely, felt a twinge of doubt. Lu Yao was not the type to get this close to a stranger, yet based on his walking speed and angle, it was clearly not accidental. Over twenty years had passed. Even if the AO mark had been made back then, its influence would have long dissipated.
Why did Lu Yao still want to approach? After they all sat, Lu Yao pushed the tall glass of wine in front of him aside. Cold condensation slid along his fingers. The pheromones he had smelled on Li Mo earlier lingered in his mind—a pure, alcoholic scent, completely different from that first alpha.
Lu Yao studied the alpha before him carefully. The basic information provided by Deputy Director Teng included photos of Li Mo taken twenty years ago at Morningstar Military Academy—a young man full of ambition, more mature and intelligent than Li Yan. Yet the Li Mo before him pressed his lips silently, skin tanned dark by the stars, a scar crossing his left temple, looking far older than his years.
How could he know about the events of the past, even bypass Federation Intelligence Bureau scrutiny, and assume this identity? Why return now?
“Mr. Li Mo, did you tell Director Teng that you were the alpha who saved me back at the CROSS laboratory?” Lu Yao’s voice was calm but sharp, a question laced with accusation.
“Yes, that’s what I told him.” Li Mo finally met Lu Yao’s gaze, revealing years of fatigue in his eyes. “Stellar Date 5785, November 2nd, Tendi P999 planet—CROSS laboratory, which was conducting human experiments, was attacked. There was not only external assault but also a riot by the subjects trying to escape. You were the leader.”
Lu Yao’s brow furrowed.
“The lab’s defense systems were breached. The active test subjects seized weapons and tried to escape. On the third underground floor, you were gravely injured, losing blood and strength, unable to move forward, and entering estrus. The pheromones you emitted triggered a frenzy in a large number of alphas.
“One alpha officer piloted a mecha from outside, breaking into the lab, neutralizing the dangerous experimental beasts, and clearing a safe path for further advancement and escape. He stopped on the third underground floor, drove away the crazed alphas, and to rescue you, had to mark you to suppress the mint-scented pheromones you were emitting.
“Your eyes, ears, and nasal passages were all injured and bleeding. After being marked, you went into shock and unconscious—it was he who brought you out.”
Li Mo’s description was precise, even capturing Lu Yao’s pheromones and his injuries at the time. But Elaine noticed that both men—one rough and despondent, the other icy and cold—showed no expected emotional response.
Especially Lu Yao. His calmness went beyond normal. Based on prior therapy sessions, Elaine had expected Lu Yao might lose control upon encountering that alpha from the past, which was why she had come personally. Yet reality was far from her expectations.
“This is what I told Deputy Director Teng,” Li Mo said. Lu Yao met his gaze, dark and bottomless, and spoke with a voice like stone soaked in ice: “Is that so? Including that the person who saved me was an officer?” Back then, Li Mo was just a student at the Military Academy attending the exercise—hardly an officer.
“Except for that part,” Li Mo answered honestly.
Lu Yao narrowed his eyes. No more words were needed; both already realized the anomaly each had detected. “You were present and witnessed everything. Why hide it from the Federation Intelligence Bureau, yet tell me the truth?”
“I believe that Alpha did not want the Federation Intelligence Bureau to know he appeared at that time,” Li Mo said.
“You know him? Who is he—your classmate?”
“You could say that. He also came from Morningstar Military Academy,” Li Mo replied. “You know him too.”
Lu Yao frowned.
“Zhou Yunchen.”
The name made Lu Yao’s eyelashes tremble.
“He piloted the Distant Star to land on P999, cleared the beasts, rescued the test subjects, and marked you.”
Lu Yao immediately said, “Impossible. Distant Star only appeared ten years ago. Zhou Yunchen could not have piloted it in 5785.”
“I also thought it was impossible, assuming my memory was flawed,” Li Mo said. “But last month, I saw the documentary close-ups of you, the Distant Star, and General Zhou. I was certain—the alpha back then was him. That is also why I returned to New Blue Star.”
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Li Mo and Lu Yao temporarily paused their confidential discussion. Elaine went to open it. The door opened, revealing a tall figure.
The restaurant manager apologized, “Mr. Lu said not to be disturbed, but General Zhou also came to see you. I wasn’t sure, so I let him in.”
Elaine waved off the apology. The two exchanged quiet words, but when Lu Yao turned to see Zhou Yunchen, the world seemed to blur and drift away. Zhou Yunchen wore a pristine, sharply tailored dark-blue military uniform. His boots shone, and golden tassels hung from his epaulettes—more elaborate and magnificent than any uniform Lu Yao had seen him wear.
Back then, Lu Yao could not see what the alpha wore—he only remembered touching a fabric like a space combat suit. He couldn’t hear the alpha clearly either, only faintly catching a male voice calling him. All he remembered was the mingling stench of blood and rust, and the guaiacwood pheromones mixed within it. Just like now.
Facing Li Mo across the table, Zhou Yunchen exuded the same S-rank pheromone pressure he had when repelling the frenzied alphas back then. The scent of guaiacwood subtly spread.
Lu Yao had stayed in a scentless world for too long; even a trace triggered extreme sensitivity. Scent, processed alongside emotion in the amygdala, travels to the hippocampus, intertwining perception, emotion, and memory.
Seeing Zhou Yunchen’s familiar face, the guaiacwood scent instantly overwhelmed him. He swayed to stand, perception and control blurred, tried to step back, and fell to the ground. Li Mo instinctively reached to support him, but the sudden shift in airborne scent molecules made him pause. The catnip omega pheromones had emerged. Lu Yao had entered estrus. It was as if molten lava and blades struck him simultaneously; the heat and the pain of relived memories churned through his body. He gasped for air, his face flushed unnaturally.
Everyone froze. Elaine reacted first. She pulled Li Mo and Zhou Yunchen outside, “Step back! Manager, call an ambulance immediately!”
She closed the door, isolating Zhou Yunchen and Li Mo, then pulled out an emergency defibrillator and respiration equipment to tend to Lu Yao. Lu Yao curled on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around himself, eyes closed, trembling uncontrollably. His throat muscles tensed from fear and the illusionary pain, making breathing difficult. He struggled to gasp, his brain intermittently darkening from lack of oxygen.
The catnip scent grew stronger, almost seeping through the door. Elaine called out, “Lu Yao has been forced into estrus. Manager, you’re also an omega—step back, be careful, and don’t let other patrons enter this area.”
“Is there a way to alleviate forced estrus?” the manager asked anxiously. When a high-level alpha forcibly induces an omega into estrus, the pain is extreme, and no drug can relieve it. The omega must either accept the alpha’s mark or endure it.
“No.” Lu Yao absolutely could not endure this on his own. Elaine feared he would have a mental breakdown, and even more that he might suffocate himself. “General Zhou, you need to come in and help—just like last time,” Elaine’s voice trembled.
Author’s note:
If you can’t find medicine, just use General Zhou as the medicine.
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