Ai Lin felt that he had been a bit unlucky lately. Accompanying his boss to an auction, he unexpectedly found himself in the middle of an assassination attempt.

After finally managing to hide in a safe house, he discovered that there were terrorists lurking inside as well, and even the auction house manager was one of their accomplices! So when he saw a terrorist disguised as a guest shoot off another innocent guest’s arm with a high-energy beam gun, only to be shot in the head by a gray figure wielding an electromagnetic gun, and then that gray figure was shot in the shoulder by the auction house manager… After witnessing this continuous cycle of violence, Ai Lin thought he was going to die in this chaotic scene.

He couldn’t understand why there were so many people carrying guns into an auction where firearms were strictly prohibited!

Just before he thought he was going to die, Ai Lin wanted to say goodbye to his kind boss and leave a last message: “Boss, thank you for bringing me to see the world. Please don’t do it again in the next life.”

But when he turned around, he found his alpha boss’s face as pale as paper, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, and his enlarged pupils nearly taking up his entire eyeball. He had collapsed to the ground, completely unable to move.

Ai Lin couldn’t help but wonder: Was his boss squeamish about blood? Why was he so scared after seeing a few people get shot? He had never seen him like this before!

In the midst of his confusion, Ai Lin suddenly heard a gentle voice say, “All betas present, please remove your masks, place your hands on your heads, and lie on the ground.”

Following the source of the voice, he realized it was the guest who had just had his right hand severed by the high-energy beam gun. He instructed the betas to remove their masks but did not do so himself, remaining a cold gray silhouette in the eyes of others.

Ai Lin was momentarily distracted and didn’t immediately take off his mask. He thought, why only ask the betas to do this? What about the alphas and omegas?

Before he could ponder the answer, he felt a powerful gust of wind brush past his face— the owner of the voice had swung a long knife, pinning a beta behind him to the wall. The cracking stones and the beta’s gun falling to the ground made a dull sound, which was soon drowned out by the booming of three gunshots.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before Ai Lin could exhale the breath he had just taken in, the other three people had permanently stopped breathing.

“I will reiterate one last time—”

The owner of the voice, using his remaining left hand, swiftly dealt with the four betas who had attempted to attack him in the span of a single breath. He then turned the dark muzzle of his gun towards Ai Lin, who had yet to lie down, and calmly said, “Now, all betas present, please remove your masks, place your hands on your heads, and lie on the ground.”

His voice, transformed by the mask, came through the public channel, losing its original tone and sounding like a lifeless, emotionless mechanical being. Even though his tone remained gentle, it was filled with an undeniable, hard-hitting authority.

This time, Ai Lin didn’t dare to hesitate. He quickly trembled as he unfastened the mask’s clasp, held his head, and lay down on the ground, indicating that he had no weapons and no intention to attack. His heart raced violently in his chest, merging with his fear to create an indescribable feeling of suffocation, leaving his mind blank, with only one thought remaining: he understood why the gray figure only asked the betas to do this.

Because high-level alphas could release pheromone pressure.

All the alphas and omegas in this safe house had long been immobilized and weakened by the pheromone pressure released by the gray figure, rendering them incapable of action. They didn’t need to worry, while the betas, unable to smell or sense the pheromones, were unaffected and thus received “special” attention from the gray figure.

But his boss was already a top-tier 3S alpha…

Even if they were all alphas of the same level, how strong must the gray figure’s pressure be to suppress his boss to the point where he couldn’t utter a word?

What happened next, Ai Lin couldn’t quite remember.

But he would never forget that when the door of the safe house was broken open, the gray figure didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he slowly walked past Ai Lin, pulled out the long knife embedded in the wall, and let out a barely audible sigh: “Only one hand was lost; after all, I am still a formidable opponent.”

“What do you mean formidable? Without me, you would definitely be dead. I am the formidable one, you know?”

Back on the starship, Yun Xunlan had hardly spoken a word since. He sat silently in the medical chair, allowing the doctor to treat his severed hand, ignoring the system’s incessant chatter.

“Which organization did this?”

“They only sent a few people to assassinate you?”

The system was a chatterbox, unable to stop: “They must look down on me, right?”

Hearing this, Yun Xunlan replied tersely, “They’re not after me; they’re after Jian Wenxi.”

The system responded, “Oh, so they don’t look down on me? Then it’s fine.”

“Yun Xunlan—”

“How are you?”

Just as Yun Xunlan and the system were discussing Jian Wenxi, Jian Wenxi, who had been waiting outside the medical room, rushed in as soon as the doctor came out, squatting beside the medical chair with red-rimmed eyes, staring at Yun Xunlan’s right wrist, which was wrapped in medical repair fluid.

“It’s been reattached; it will heal in two or three days,” Yun Xunlan reassured him with a smile. “It’s fine.”

Jian Wenxi still felt guilty: “It’s all my fault; I shouldn’t have let you come with me…”

Yun Xunlan cut him off: “If I hadn’t come with you, you might have died. Besides, you are a citizen of the Galactic Empire; I have an obligation to protect you.”

Jian Wenxi opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but at that moment, Ni Chun hurried into the medical room, looking anxious: “Your Highness, the Crown Prince wants to see you.”

It was “wants to see,” not “would like to see.”

The former left no room for refusal, while the latter had the option.

As soon as Ni Chun finished speaking, a woman in a white imperial gown with black hair appeared at the door of the medical room.

Her appearance was six parts similar to Yun Xunlan, with pure golden eyes, but her gaze was so imposing that it made people dare not look directly at her—she was the Crown Princess of the Galactic Empire, Yun Xunlan’s older sister, Yun Xinguang.

“So it’s just a severed hand.”

Yun Xinguang looked down at Yun Xunlan, scanning him twice before finally fixing her gaze on his right wrist. She raised an eyebrow and said to Jian Wenxi, “Wenxi, you can step out for a moment; I have something to discuss with Xunlan.”

Jian Wenxi was very afraid of Yun Xinguang. Even though he was still worried about Yun Xunlan, he didn’t dare disobey her order, so he left reluctantly, looking back three times.

Yun Xunlan, however, was not intimidated by Yun Xinguang at all. He revealed a hint of helplessness in his eyes: “Sister, we are about to jump back to the Imperial Capital Star; you don’t need to come all this way.”

Yun Xinguang countered, “Your light brain wristband suddenly sent me a message saying it detected that the life signs of the wristband’s owner had completely disappeared. How could I not come?”

—That was because the right hand wearing the light brain wristband was severed!

But Yun Xunlan didn’t retort.

Yun Xinguang walked up to him with her hands behind her back and continued, “Since I’m here, I might as well discuss something important with you.”

“Given that the guards around you were suppressed by your pheromones during this attack and were unable to act normally, their performance was truly unsatisfactory, and your name is still on the interstellar black market’s bounty list, I have decided to select a new batch of warriors from the seven major legions to form a new royal guard to protect you.”

“The total number of the royal guard will be ten thousand. The proposal has been approved by the council, and the selection will start tomorrow, with interviews in three days. Be prepared.”

Yun Xunlan was momentarily stunned: “Ten thousand?”

With the current tense situation on the border battlefield, the royal family was going to select ten thousand top warriors from the Empire’s seven major legions to form a small army just to protect one alpha? This was too extravagant and excessive! How did the council approve such an outrageous proposal?

The system echoed in Yun Xunlan’s mind: “Exactly, it’s too ridiculous! Finding ten thousand people to protect you is less effective than finding someone to scold you every day. With me around, how could you die?”

“Ten thousand is too many.” Yun Xunlan shook his head. “The bounty on the black market isn’t for my head; it’s just for my manuscript.”

“Ten thousand is too many?”

Yun Xinguang scoffed: “Then you should go and withdraw the 3 billion bounty on the interstellar black market regarding you, and ensure that those who have their eyes on you will never issue a second bounty.”

Yun Xunlan didn’t care: “If they issue it again, I can just withdraw it again, right?”

“Fine, you have the money. If you enjoy this kind of entertainment, I won’t stop you, but how many more times can your broken body withstand such treatment?” Yun Xinguang sneered. “Your body’s strength level is already very low. The last health check results were not optimistic, and the Medical Research Institute believes there is still a risk of continued decline. Now, even a beta who is not affected by pheromones could easily kill you.”

Having just killed four betas, Yun Xunlan hadn’t even had a chance to refute when the system started up again: “Impossible, absolutely impossible! She must look down on me, right? But if you didn’t complete your daily tasks the day before, then just pretend I never said this.”

Its voice intertwined with Yun Xinguang’s, making Yun Xunlan, who was nearing a sensitive period, even more irritable.

In this world, alphas were ranked, and omegas were too.

The level of an alpha was assessed based on physical strength, and the pheromone level was linked to physical strength. The evaluation factors for omega levels were based on mental strength, with pheromone levels and mental strength levels being the same, decreasing from SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F in order, with the highest being 3S and the lowest being F.

Among them, E and F level alphas almost all carried incurable genetic disabilities. E level alphas couldn’t even defeat trained omegas, and F level alphas had physical strength even lower than that of ordinary omegas.

Betas, who neither emitted nor sensed pheromones, were more balanced in both aspects, showing no bias towards either side. If they had to be ranked, it would be based on a comprehensive assessment of physical strength and mental strength.

Yet Yun Xunlan, who was clearly an alpha, had a physical strength lower than the average level of betas and was even starting to align more with omegas.

“Don’t think that just because they are offering a bounty on your manuscript instead of your head, you can rest easy.” Yun Xinguang, a standard alpha with a very strong personality, pointed at Yun Xunlan’s severed hand and continued, “And I’m just here to inform you.”

“This ten thousand won’t all follow you around all the time. Only nine SS-level elite alpha guards will stay by your side regularly, while the others will remain stationed at the Imperial Capital Star’s military department, only accompanying you when you leave the Imperial Capital Star.”

“I will appoint the total commander of the royal guard.”

Yun Xinguang shot Yun Xunlan a glance, perhaps knowing that her next request would be hard to accept, her voice softened a bit: “As for the nine alphas who will be with you day and night, you can choose them yourself, pick the ones you find pleasing or like.”

“Okay.” Yun Xunlan didn’t oppose any further, just reminded Yun Xinguang, who was also an alpha, “But I should be in a sensitive period three days from now. I won’t find any alpha pleasing, let alone like them.”

Yun Xinguang smiled and said, “I know, so you don’t need to be present. You can just watch the selection live stream. After all, the alphas who can make you feel pleased and liked during your sensitive period will definitely be able to get along well with you after it ends, right?”

Making him choose the alpha guards who would accompany him day and night during his sensitive period… Only Yun Xinguang could come up with such a thing.

Yun Xunlan was left speechless, turning the conversation around: “Yes, I can’t wait to meet them.”

Yun Xinguang leaned down, looking into Yun Xunlan’s golden eyes that resembled her own: “You better be. Because you absolutely cannot leave their line of sight.”

Seeing her smile, Yun Xunlan also smiled lightly: “Is that even possible?”

“I say it’s possible, it is possible. As long as you are not in a place I deem absolutely safe—”

Yun Xinguang said in an uncompromising tone: “Even if you are making love, at least one of them must be watching.”

Yun Xunlan: “?”

He stopped smiling and said to Yun Xinguang, “Then why not just have them sleep with me every day? Wouldn’t that be safer?”

Yun Xinguang, however, seriously sought his opinion, as if she really had such plans: “So, are you willing?”

Yun Xunlan stood up and left the medical room, making his attitude clear with his actions—how could he possibly be willing?

Right now, he didn’t even want to see Yun Xinguang, who was a blood relative, let alone have other alphas sleep with him every day.

Noticing that his irritable emotions were growing stronger, Yun Xunlan felt he needed to do something to calm himself down, like listening to the system and continuing to surf the internet to collect the negative comments from interstellar netizens about him, completing his daily survival tasks.

So, as soon as he returned to the Imperial Capital Star, Yun Xunlan locked himself in his bedroom, seeing no one.

He sat down at the low table by the floor-to-ceiling window in his bedroom and personally brewed a pot of Lushan Yunwu tea.

After brewing it, he didn’t drink it but instead slowly poured the fragrant tea over a small stone blue fish.

That little blue fish was exquisitely crafted and lifelike; when the tea was poured over it, it would even blow bubbles from its mouth. It was a tea pet that Yun Xunlan kept.

He strictly followed the steps to nurture the tea pet, first pouring tea over the little fish, then brushing it with a nurturing brush. After doing all this, Yun Xunlan went to wash his left hand. When he returned and sat down, just as he was about to play with the tea pet while reading his “bedtime relaxation reading material,” his light brain wristband vibrated twice.

“‘Jian Wenxi’ has sent you two messages. Would you like to read them?”

The light brain butler informed Yun Xunlan in a monotone electronic voice who had sent him the messages:
[Jian Wenxi: Yun Xunlan, is your hand feeling better? Does it still hurt? I’m really worried about you.]
[Jian Wenxi: By the way, your sensitive period is coming soon, right? I’ve had someone send you the V17 version of the alpha sensitive period suppressor. This time, they added 01mM of lithium to the formula, which theoretically should have a better calming effect. The results from the humanoid test subjects also indicate that the side effects are only blurred vision, dry mouth, and drowsiness, lasting between 48 to 72 hours, which is more comfortable than previous suppressors. You should give it a try and let me know how it works.]

Yun Xunlan replied: [Not painful, it’s much better. But I can’t try the suppressor. My sister is going to establish a new royal guard for me, and I need to watch the live selection of the guards during this sensitive period and choose nine alpha guards that I find pleasing and like. Using the suppressor would affect my judgment of them, so I’ll try it next time during my sensitive period.]

[Jian Wenxi: ?]

Jian Wenxi’s reply, which consisted of just a question mark, perfectly expressed his confusion, and he followed up with: [Which alpha can find other alphas pleasing during their sensitive period? It’s hard enough to find one, let alone nine?]