After leaving White Tower, Li Po glanced in the direction of the training field, then turned around and walked toward the dormitory.

He walked a few steps by himself and suddenly realized that the shadow behind him was still there.

“Why are you still following me?” Li Po turned his head slightly, giving Jin Mu a glance.

Jin Mu paused when he heard this, his step awkwardly freezing mid-air. His thick eyebrows furrowed, and he stared at the Omega for a long time before his lips moved, his expression full of grievance as he said, “Ungrateful little wolf.”

Li Po: “…?”

Jin Mu didn’t consider himself a person with a good temper, but whenever he was with Li Po, his temper seemed to vanish into thin air: “Aren’t you feeling unwell? I’ll walk you back to the dorm.”

Li Po shook his head without hesitation.

Instantly, Jin Mu felt a bit bitter in his heart. He bit down on his molars, trying to sound like he didn’t care, “What, do you really hate me?”

At those words, Li Po finally raised his eyelids and looked at him seriously, “Why would you say that?”

“Because…” Jin Mu started to speak but froze the moment his gaze met the Omega’s.

The Omega was beautiful, with a deceptive appearance that looked pure and harmless. At this moment, his eyes were soft, and his expression was calm as he stared directly at Jin Mu, almost making his heart melt.

Suddenly, those eyes narrowed slightly, and the previously gentle gaze turned sharp in an instant, now filled with impatience as it fixed on him.

Jin Mu: “…”

Of course, he knew the Omega’s obedient demeanor was fake.

Seeing that Jin Mu remained silent, Li Po was about to urge him, but then Jin Mu opened his mouth: “Are you still mad about the time I scared you?”

As he spoke, Jin Mu, unusually, felt a bit nervous. He wasn’t sure if Li Po held a grudge, and if this Omega really was that petty, what would he do?

He stared at the Omega’s eyes anxiously, desperately trying to gauge his reaction.

To his surprise, Li Po merely glanced at him calmly and didn’t give any extra response: “Oh, that.”

“It’s fine.”

From beginning to end, he didn’t hesitate for even a second, as if he really didn’t care at all.

And indeed, Li Po didn’t. At first, he had been startled, but after spending so many days in S District and witnessing so many bizarre things, Jin Mu’s actions seemed trivial in comparison. Moreover, since he hadn’t sensed any malice from Jin Mu afterward, it mattered even less to him. If anyone should care, it should be the original Li Po, not him.

“…”

The moment Jin Mu got his answer, he felt a bit dazed. Since the day this issue began to bother him, it had been like a heavy stone weighing on his heart, always pressing down, making him uncomfortable. Now that the stone was suddenly gone, he felt strangely unreal, like there was an empty space in his heart.

“Really? You don’t mind at all?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

Li Po threw out the words casually, then, without looking at Jin Mu again, turned and headed toward the dormitory. He had said everything that needed to be said, and he had no special feelings for Jin Mu—he neither liked nor disliked him, that was all.

Behind him, Jin Mu stood alone on the open ground, his expression somewhat indescribable. He should have felt relieved, but for some reason, there was a dull ache in his chest.

If the Omega didn’t hate him, did that mean his coldness toward him was real?

At this thought, Jin Mu suddenly felt a strange sense of frustration.

Damn, Omega’s thoughts are really hard to figure out. He had learned that much today.

•

On the fourth floor of White Tower, in the testing lab.

Inside a cold glass dish lay a dense cluster of white particles. The egg-like particles were packed together, motionless, like a lifeless clump of white mold.

A doctor in protective gear carefully opened the lid with tweezers and picked up one of the eggs, placing it into a pale yellow solution.

After a while, he bent down to observe the color of the solution. With just one glance, his eyes, hidden behind the protective visor, showed disappointment.

Still no color change.

These eggs were completely inactive.

He closed the lid and was just about to leave the lab when the door was pushed open from the outside.

“Hurry, Yu San, clean up! The Administrator is coming.”

The doctor, known as Yu San, was startled, “The Administrator is coming?”

“Of course! It’s been days, and the soldiers outside are about to explode. They’ve been waiting for us to give them an answer. It’s no surprise the Administrator is coming—he must be under a lot of pressure.”

“That’s true…” Yu San muttered as he quickly tidied up the lab equipment. Soon, the lab door was pushed open again.

Jing Lun walked in, followed by two Alphas.

He furrowed his thick eyebrows and glanced at the glass dish containing the white insect eggs. “Any results?”

Yu San shook his head at the question, “We’ve examined them thirty-seven times now. Since leaving Training Ground No. 2, these egg-like particles haven’t shown any reaction and appear to be completely inactive.”

“Have you tried every method?”

Intimidated by Jing Lun’s presence, Yu San shrank back slightly. “We’ve tried everything—culturing them in live cells, blood samples, nothing caused any reaction. Short of testing them in a living body, we’ve done all we can.”

Jing Lun frowned at this, “A living body?”

Yu San nodded seriously, “Yes, because these egg-like particles were parasitic on a living Alpha’s body. We’ve tried every approach we could think of, but the samples remain unresponsive. The only thing that might trigger activity is testing them in a live human subject.”

“That’s not an option,” Jing Lun rejected firmly.

Yu San nodded in agreement, “Right, so this is basically a dead end. We can’t figure out why the contaminant parasites humans.”

After saying that, he cautiously glanced at Jing Lun to gauge his reaction.

Jing Lun didn’t say anything for a moment. He just stared at the glass dish in silence, his expression serious.

After a long pause, he pulled his gaze away and asked in a low voice, “What’s the next step?”

“Keep them in the glass dish for further observation, or destroy them,” Yu San replied, then added, “If we continue to observe, there’s a slim chance of discovery, but it also leaves a significant risk for S District. If we destroy them, we lose the only remaining sample of the contaminant, but it would be safer—no sudden surprises.”

“Destroy them, then.”

Jing Lun pinched the bridge of his nose, his expression weary.

“Alright, then…”

“You’ll be responsible for this destruction task.”

“Understood, Administrator.”