No matter how much the Alpha outside the administrative office yelled, the door remained firmly closed with no sign of opening. The two Alphas guarding the door sternly warned, “Get out of here! If you disturb the officer’s rest, you’ll regret it!”

The Alpha, ranked at the bottom and facing elimination, clenched his communicator, his face flushed with embarrassment from the surrounding ridicule. But the fear of being expelled from S District overwhelmed him, and in a desperate attempt, he tried to barge into the administrative office while the guards weren’t paying attention.

“Hiss…” The crowd gasped at his bold move, shocked.

“Even though the officer has a better temper than the other, this is still reckless. Does he have a death wish?”

“He’s gambling, hoping the officer will take pity on him. But why isn’t he going to the other officer?”

“Who would dare approach that one? He’s notorious for being strict and unforgiving. Mention this kind of thing, and he might just shoot you on the spot.”

The crowd sucked in a collective breath of air, this time including Li Po.

Is Jiang Yu really that ruthless? Didn’t expect that…

The two guards had been keeping an eye on the Alpha and quickly stepped in, restraining him. “Take him to the interrogation room!” one ordered.

At their command, a squad emerged from the shadows, without hesitation kicking the Alpha to the ground and slapping special handcuffs on his wrists.

The handcuffed Alpha panicked. He had come to plead, not to risk his life. He had heard terrifying rumors about the torture in the interrogation room—if he went in, he’d barely make it out alive.

In his desperation, fear took over, and the Alpha’s natural defensive instincts kicked in. The looming threat of punishment and elimination triggered his Alpha pheromones, which burst out in an aggressive wave, flooding the surroundings.

Those nearby hadn’t expected the sudden release of aggressive pheromones and instinctively responded with their own, causing the air to quickly become thick with hostile scents. Alphas with lower mental strength couldn’t withstand the assault and, within seconds, some were left with bloody noses, collapsing to their knees under the pressure.

The scene quickly devolved into chaos, with cries of pain and confusion all around. Li Po, watching it all unfold, suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck.

Then, everything went black as he lost consciousness.

…

When Li Po opened his eyes again, he found himself staring at a sterile, white ceiling. The smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, and he didn’t need to think twice to know where he was—White Tower, third floor.

A drip was attached to his hand, and when he checked the label, it read “mental strength recovery fluid.”

His head throbbed dully as he slowly recalled what had happened before he passed out.

—A pheromone mix.

A flash of confusion crossed his eyes. Back at Black Tower, he had been fine even when facing Jiang Yu’s aggressive pheromones. So why had he suddenly passed out this time, when dealing with several Alphas whose mental strength wasn’t even on Jiang Yu’s level?

Suddenly, a somewhat absurd thought popped into his head. As he was trying to control his mental strength to test his theory, the door to the room swung open.

He turned his head and, sure enough, it was Bian Lu.

Bian Lu walked in with a stern expression. Without saying a word, he approached the bed, checked the IV drip, and after confirming it was finished, he pulled the needle from Li Po’s hand and pressed a cotton swab to the spot, all while maintaining his cold demeanor.

This was the first time Li Po had seen Bian Lu like this, and it made him nervous. “Doctor Bian…”

Bian Lu shot him a glance. “Do you realize what you did wrong?”

Li Po innocently shook his head. How was he supposed to know that Alpha would suddenly release aggressive pheromones, or that the others would follow suit? Just thinking about the nauseating smell made him want to gag.

Bian Lu’s fists tightened. He shot Li Po a look of frustration—one he had previously given Jiang Yu at Black Tower. “You just got affected by Jiang Yu’s pheromones yesterday, which should have meant staying in your dorm to recover. But instead, you ran off, and not just anywhere—you went to where a bunch of Alphas were gathered. Are you trying to burn out your mental strength?”

Li Po’s eyes flickered briefly, his expression becoming slightly unnatural. “Doctor Bian, how do you even know about that?”

Bian Lu snorted. “Not only do I know, but I also had to clean up the pheromone mess you left in Jiang Yu’s office.”

Li Po’s ears instantly turned red.

He turned his head, pretending to admire the view outside the window to avoid Bian Lu’s gaze.

Bian Lu sighed deeply, clearly exasperated. He had thought Li Po was more sensible, but here he was, facing yet another headache. He gave Li Po a glance and continued to scold him.

“I don’t know what happened between you and Jiang Yu, but even if he held back, his pheromones aren’t something just anyone can endure. You were lucky you didn’t get seriously hurt, but your mental strength is definitely affected. If you had just rested for a couple of days, you would’ve recovered. But no, you had to go stir up trouble. Now whose fault is that?”

As expected.

Bian Lu’s words confirmed Li Po’s earlier suspicions. Having just been affected by Jiang Yu’s pheromones the previous day, being hit with the pheromones of several Alphas today—there was no way even an A-level mental strength could withstand that without consequence. Passing out without any major injuries was already a stroke of luck.

Li Po’s expression darkened at the realization. But there was still something that didn’t quite add up.

Was he really just A-level mental strength? How could an A-level withstand Jiang Yu’s SS-level mental strength, then deal with multiple high-level Alphas, with the only consequence being a short fainting spell?

It didn’t make sense.

Bian Lu had no idea what Li Po was thinking. After confirming his condition, Bian Lu sighed, “Now that you’re settled, I still have to run a compatibility test for Jiang Yu. You two are really giving me a hard time.”

With that, he prepared to leave.

Wait, compatibility test?

Catching something in Bian Lu’s words, Li Po’s attention was piqued. He called after him, “Doctor Bian, what compatibility test?”

Bian Lu only then realized what he had let slip. He cleared his throat awkwardly, “Uh, nothing. You misheard.”

But Li Po wasn’t easily fooled. “Are you testing the compatibility between an Alpha and an Omega? Are you matching the officer with an Omega?”

“…Damn it.”

Why is this Omega so sharp?!

Bian Lu wasn’t good at lying, so he reluctantly admitted, “…Yes.”

In the next second, Li Po quickly followed up, “Then can you test the compatibility between me and the officer?”

Bian Lu had seen that question coming. He didn’t want to crush Li Po’s hopes outright, so he gently explained, “Your mental strength level isn’t well-suited for Jiang Yu. The Omegas in his compatibility matches all have at least A-level mental strength.”

Li Po fell silent for a moment before asking, “If the mental strength levels aren’t a match, does that guarantee a low compatibility?”

“Not necessarily,” Bian Lu quickly replied. “It’s just that a suitable mental strength makes a high compatibility more likely. If the mental strength gap is too big, the chance of a high compatibility is less than one in ten thousand.”

Got it. So it’s like winning the lottery.

Li Po wasn’t deterred. He persisted, “Doctor Bian, I still want to be tested.”

Seeing the hopeful look in Li Po’s eyes, Bian Lu couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. What if the result came back with a compatibility of 1%? How disappointed would Li Po be? After confirming one last time, he asked, “Are you sure? Even if the result is almost zero?”

Li Po nodded without much hesitation.

Bian Lu, seeing Li Po’s determination, sighed and agreed. He picked up the needle and drew a sample of his blood.

“The results will take about three days. I’ll contact you then. Don’t cry if the compatibility is low, alright?”

Li Po chuckled and nodded. Suddenly, another thought crossed his mind, and he asked, “Are the results confidential?”

“Yes. Compatibility results are considered personal privacy. Only the doctor, the person being tested, and the match will know. No one else,” Bian Lu explained.

“The officer will know too…” Li Po murmured, feeling a bit conflicted. If Jiang Yu saw their compatibility was practically nonexistent, would he completely ignore him? Well, more so than usual.

Bian Lu smiled and added, “Yes, so you can still change your mind.”

Li Po wasn’t one to second-guess himself, so he declined the offer to back out. Bian Lu, seeing he couldn’t convince him, left with the blood sample in hand.

After Bian Lu left, Li Po sat on the bed, resting his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

He figured his mental strength was at least A-level. Even if the compatibility was low, it couldn’t be that low, right? He wasn’t aiming high—just hoping for something above 80%. He wasn’t greedy.

Since his mental strength hadn’t fully recovered from the incident, Li Po was told to stay at White Tower for three days to recover fully. During this time, the system automatically stopped assigning him missions, so he could only lie in bed and take it easy.

But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Once he left White Tower, he could pick up his compatibility report at the same time. It was like a mini vacation.

…

By the second day, Li Po was already restless.

He felt he had recovered, but Bian Lu insisted otherwise, forcing him to rest for the full three days and undergo daily mental strength recovery infusions.

The worst part was that he couldn’t leave the facility.

He was really about to turn into a mushroom.

Bored out of his mind, Li Po sent a message to Jiang Yu:

[Officer, I’m back at White Tower again.]

It took Jiang Yu half a day to reply:

[Mm.]

“……”

Li Po smiled sarcastically and typed:

[Aren’t you going to visit your injured soldier? As a combat officer, shouldn’t you show some care?]

This time, Jiang Yu replied quickly, but it was just one word again:

[Busy.]

Li Po immediately threw his communicator aside.

Busy? Who isn’t busy? I’m busy too.

Whatever. If their compatibility turned out to be low, so be it. Even if it’s 1%, it wasn’t the end of the world.