Chapter 108: Catalyst SA099
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The swirling rumors on StarNet about Mandan and Lin Xu’s relationship had him on edge. He rushed to the PR department to have the posts deleted, to scrub what needed scrubbing. For this reason, he was also meticulous about privacy when arranging Lin Xu’s meeting with Godric. He chose a café in the eastern outskirts of the city, far from the crowds, where each room was separated for privacy.
The café’s building was made entirely of glass, with one-way windows facing outward. Sunlight filtered in through the greenery covering the roof and walls. Lin Xu and Mandan arrived first. When Godric entered with his assistant, both of them were clearly surprised.
“Dr. Lin,” Godric greeted, stepping forward to shake hands with Lin Xu. His assistant followed closely behind, eyes bright with interest as he looked at Lin Xu.
Lin Xu nodded in return. Only then did Godric turn his attention to Mandan, CEO of the Perseus Group, and greet him politely. Once seated, Godric asked, “Mr. Mandan said he wanted to discuss a mineral transport partnership. I didn’t expect to meet Dr. Lin as well.”
“Dr. Lin is one of the two largest shareholders in the Perseus Group,” Mandan explained. “This meeting was actually his suggestion.”
Godric was visibly surprised. He truly hadn’t known about that part of Lin Xu’s identity. After Marianna’s death, the Perseus Group had handled her estate and stock transfer very discreetly. Outsiders only knew that her husband, Chen Jinshan, would receive a large portion of the inheritance. No one had expected Lin Xu to inherit an equal share.
Godric’s reaction drew a flash of scrutiny in Lin Xu’s eyes. He had originally suspected Godric’s strange friendliness was due to his position in the Perseus Group. But now, it was obvious Godric had been completely unaware of it.
“I see,” Godric said with a smile. “So it’s Dr. Lin who wants to talk business?”
“I thought it was Mr. Chapman, who wanted to collaborate with the Perseus Group,” Lin Xu said mildly. “Regarding the Bard-class mecha, for instance.”
Before coming, Mandan had asked Lin Xu why he wanted to meet Godric. Lin Xu had only said it was a personal matter, so Mandan hadn’t pressed. Now that Lin Xu had taken control of the conversation, Mandan relaxed and took a sip of coffee.
The caramel masked the bitterness—it was surprisingly good. He couldn’t help but take another sip.
“Dr. Lin misunderstood,” Godric said. “The Bard is a personal gift. I thought you’d like her.”
Lin Xu frowned slightly. Godric’s answer had been completely unexpected.
“Don’t you like it?” the assistant asked eagerly. Though it was their first meeting, his gaze burned with a strange intensity that reminded Lin Xu of their first encounter at a banquet—when he’d first met Godric.
“I do. Bard is beautiful… and expensive,” Lin Xu replied. As he answered the assistant, Godric lifted his cup of coffee. But as he brought it to his lips, he paused. Amid the rich bitterness was a faint, unfamiliar scent. He took a small sip, confirmed his suspicion, and set the cup down without drinking further. Mandan noticed the motion. “Not to your taste?”
His own caramel coffee was already gone.
“Mm. The flavor’s too strong. I’ll get another,” Godric said, summoning the holographic menu. He turned to his assistant. “You want to change yours?”
The assistant blinked in surprise. Godric continued, “Try a sip first. If you don’t like it, get something else. How about you, Dr. Lin?”
Lin Xu shook his head. His stomach had been acting up lately—caffeinated drinks made him nauseous. In front of him was a glass of lime soda.
The assistant didn’t really care what he drank at business meetings. He also remembered that Godric usually wasn’t picky about trivial details like this. But under Godric’s watchful gaze, he obediently lifted his cup and took a sip. Just a small sip—and he nearly choked. He looked at Godric in alarm. Their eyes met, confirming that they had both noticed the same problem.
“Two glasses of iced water,” Godric said as he re-ordered. Then he glanced at Mandan.
Mandan didn’t understand. In fact, the entire conversation had left him feeling muddled—like his mind was full of steam, unable to process the information or apply his usual sharp analysis.
Lin Xu brought the discussion back. “Mr. Chapman, I like the Bard. But I can’t accept such an expensive gift.”
“Why not? You accepted the ancient texts.”
“Those were donations to the Ancient Earth Natural Science Museum. If you’re interested in supporting Imperial’s cultural and educational efforts, perhaps you should donate the Bard to the Imperial War Memorial. She’s not a relic of Ancient Earth.”
Lin Xu’s step-by-step reasoning gradually pulled Godric back from his fervor into rationality. Fine. He had to admit, gifting the Bard mecha directly to Lin Xu might have been… a bit extreme.
He shouldn’t only be thinking of his own desires. Without the Ark Fleet’s memories, Lin Xu would only see his actions as incomprehensible. But what was done was done. Godric could only try to fix it.
“Think of it as tuition, Dr. Lin. Your knowledge has always been an invaluable resource to us,” Godric said. “I heard the Perseus Group is investing in the Capital Star University’s space technology lab. Would you be interested in collaborating with White Bird Technologies?”
Rational benefit calculations offered more comfort to a logical mind than a zealot’s passion ever could. Lin Xu looked to Mandan—this kind of business negotiation was his domain.
Mandan rubbed his eyes and muttered, “Oh… okay…”
His eyes were bloodshot. Something seemed off. “Mr. Mandan?” Godric asked.
Mandan bent forward, pressing his forehead with one hand. He let out a pained groan, his whole body radiating heat. The minty scent of alpha pheromones began to leak into the air. Lin Xu was unaffected, but the two alphas across from him were clearly growing uncomfortable.
“Susceptible period?” Lin Xu asked. “Did you bring an inhibitor?”
Mandan panted, unable to speak. Godric took Mandan’s coffee cup with a stern expression, lifted it to his nose, and sniffed. His face grew solemn. “It’s not a susceptible period,” he said. “It’s the SA099 catalyst.”
The SA099 catalyst carried a distinctly artificial chemical odor, but when mixed with strong coffee, it was nearly impossible for the untrained to detect. The moment Godric picked up the cup, he realized something was wrong. After alerting his assistant, both of them confirmed the presence of the catalyst.
SA099 was a powerful aphrodisiac, but it only affected alphas. Godric wasn’t worried about himself, nor did he suspect Lin Xu. That left Mandan, who was in the same room, as the likely culprit.
But judging from the current situation, Mandan’s drink had also been dosed with the catalyst. He hadn’t detected it at all, and the drug was already taking effect. His pheromones were becoming erratic and aggressive, like sharp spikes stabbing wildly in every direction.
There were no omegas in the room, but even among alphas, a pheromone clash could lead to uncontrollable violence. Lin Xu’s voice turned cold. “Step back. Call for an isolation ambulance.”
The moment he gave the order, Godric and the assistant didn’t ask a single question. They immediately retreated to the corner. The assistant began contacting emergency services trained to handle alphas in a berserk state.
But in the enclosed space, the pheromones leaking from Mandan carried a heavy sense of provocation. Godric and his assistant had to grit their teeth and restrain themselves, fighting back the primal urge to lunge forward and brawl with Mandan.
The next moment, they saw Mandan reach toward Lin Xu. Both nearly cried out in alarm and rushed over. But in a flash, Lin Xu raised his hand and caught the delirious alpha’s wrist. A dull crack echoed through the room.
“Aaagh—!” Mandan let out a terrible scream. Lin Xu had dislocated his wrist with a single twist. But the drug was stronger than Lin Xu had anticipated. After that brief cry of pain, lust overpowered everything else. Mandan, having lost nearly all self-control, stood and tried to approach again.
Lin Xu kicked him in the knee—not even hard—and Mandan dropped with a cry of pain, falling to his knees. In the next second, Lin Xu grabbed him by the collar and flung him to the floor.
Mandan might’ve been an A-Class alpha, but years of desk work had left him with little physical conditioning. He’d never undergone formal combat training. In terms of strength or technique, he was no match for Lin Xu. And yet, he still tried to get up, even using his dislocated wrist to push himself off the floor. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
“Your beverage has been delivered,” said a mechanical voice.
“We’re in the middle of a meeting!” Godric shouted. “Come back later!”
They couldn’t risk letting a drugged and frenzied alpha out of this room before the isolation team arrived. But the door still opened—and instead of a delivery bot, a blinding barrage of flashbulbs burst into the room.
The delivery robot was shoved aside by a flood of reporters, its drink spilled across the floor, its eyes flashing red as it sputtered, “Program error. Program error.”
Lin Xu had just pinned Mandan’s arm behind his back, pressing his shin into the alpha’s spine to hold him down. Mandan writhed beneath him, panting and thrashing. Lin Xu grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his forehead to the cold floor. The moment the reporters burst in, Lin Xu instinctively looked toward the commotion. His sharp gaze and brutal movements drew gasps from the unprepared crowd.
Someone had tipped them off that something big was happening here. And once they’d learned that Godric, Mandan, and Lin Xu were all inside, the press had imagined countless possible scandals. But not a single one of them involved Lin Xu pinning Mandan—the CEO of Perseus Group—to the floor and beating the hell out of him.
—
Night fell. The sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight.
That afternoon, the Dionysus District Aid Conference had been held in the Imperial Parliament Building. The evening banquet was hosted in the Imperial Palace.
The Capital Star’s Climate Control Center had cleared the skies and deployed reflective shields in orbit to block the cold satellite light. As a result, the stars gleamed brilliantly in the night sky. If one looked up, they could even glimpse the twinkling lights of the distant Dionysus District.
Inside the grand ballroom, laughter rang out amid the clinking of glasses. Distinguished guests from across the galaxy mingled and exchanged pleasantries—though none of their conversations had anything to do with Dionysus.
The Dionysus District was the second star region humans had colonized, yet it never gained any early advantages. It remained poor and underdeveloped. The Empire’s aid programs had been in place for nearly a century with little to show for it.
Still, that didn’t stop the elite from using the cause as an excuse to throw lavish parties. From the moment Heinrich entered the ballroom in full military dress, all eyes were on him. He had nothing to say to the people at this banquet, but that didn’t stop them from trying to strike up conversation.
“Marshal Chu,” a soft, unfamiliar voice called out. He turned and saw a young noble omega approaching. The boy was extravagantly dressed, with immaculate makeup.
Heinrich’s expression remained cold and stern, but his face was strikingly handsome. The omega’s eyes lit up the moment he saw him up close and opened his mouth to speak—only for Heinrich to nod once and walk away. The young man stared at Heinrich’s retreating back and bit his lip.
A beautiful girl holding a glass of wine wobbled over and said teasingly, “Lancer, give it up. We’re of similar status and temperament. If Heinrich doesn’t like me, he’s not going to like you either.”
Lancer shot her a glance. “Catherine, just because you lack the skills doesn’t mean everyone else does.”
“Heinrich isn’t into people like us.”
Lancer had also heard the rumors about Marshal Chu’s lover. He lifted his chin defiantly. “You mean that beta? Just a lowly commoner. There are plenty of ways to deal with someone like that.”
Catherine snorted. “Sure, go ahead. But if you manage to get rid of him, you better let me know. I’ll be sure to strut around in front of Marshal Chu myself. Let’s be honest, Lancer—you’re not even better looking than I am.”
