Xiao Lau was the first to spot them and waved enthusiastically. “Over here, over here! We saved you two seats. Dandan made braised pork knuckle tonight—it smells so good I think my cheeks are gonna fall off! Hurry up and try some!”
Luo Hai stumbled slightly as he was dragged along, finally being pulled into a chair.
They were seated almost at the very center of the hall, in full view of everyone. For the first time in his life, Luo Hai truly understood what it meant to feel like sitting on pins and needles.
“I wasn’t sure what you like to eat, but since you and Mr. Eugene are both from Fuba Port, I figured stewed meat would be a safe bet,” Dandan said calmly as she sat down beside him, smiling.
Her smile was so gentle and natural—there was no trace of a woman who had been imprisoned, who had hovered at the brink of life and death multiple times. Her voice was so casual, as if Luo Hai were nothing more than a distant friend visiting from afar, rather than the prosecutor who had personally arrested her alongside the criminal police.
Luo Hai’s entire body was rigid. He almost failed to pick up his chopsticks.
Just then, a little girl in a red dress ran over, carefully cupping a small piece of cake in her hands. She stood on tiptoe and placed it on Luo Hai’s table before flashing him a bright grin and running off just as quickly.
Luo Hai barely had time to recognize her as Alin’s daughter before she disappeared.
He wanted to say thank you, but the words got stuck in his throat.
He didn’t know what Eugene had told these people—perhaps this was exactly the outcome Eugene had intended.
These simple acts of kindness, this warmth, pricked at Luo Hai’s heart like tiny needles. His guilt spread, and for the first time in his life, a new, overwhelming feeling took root.
Omegas are people.
Everyone gathered here—those who had been wounded and cast aside by society, those he had once despised and dismissed—were just as weak and powerless as he was. They were no different from anyone else walking this earth. They were simply human beings who wanted to live.
Every person in this world was born equal. Every person started life the same way.
Yet some had their humanity stripped away before they even had the chance to understand the world. They were robbed of their right to make choices, doomed to live as someone else’s possession, treated like goods to be traded at any moment.
Luo Hai looked at Dandan, and Dandan looked back at him.
A faded scar ran across her forehead. It didn’t make her look ugly—it made her eyes shine even brighter.
There was laughter in her gaze, but also something deeper, something Luo Hai struggled to put into words—an unspoken understanding, an instinctual recognition of kinship.
I know the wounds you carry. I understand the pain you’ve endured. There is no need for us to be enemies. No need for deception. No need for hatred. Because we are the same—powerless Omegas, but human beings all the same.
…….
That night, Luo Hai ate more than he ever had before.
He wasn’t good at handling others’ kindness and gentle attitudes. When faced with friendly concern and enthusiasm, all he could do was stiffly nod and say thank you with a tense jaw.
The only thing he could do was try not to waste a single piece of meat in his bowl and make an effort to appear more eager to eat than usual.
Eugene watched from the side, smiling. After so many years, he once again saw a glimpse of Luo Hai’s younger self.
Cold, stubborn, and resolute, yet also clumsy—responding to warmth in the most rigid way possible, yet trying so hard, almost desperately, to make sure others felt it.
Just as Luo Hai, resigned to his fate, reached for the last piece of meat in his bowl, Eugene’s chopsticks came over and snatched it away.
Of course, Xiao Lau didn’t miss this scene.
“Hey—what the hell, man!” He pointed at Eugene indignantly. “That was Li Jie’s piece for Luo Hai! Don’t you have enough in your own bowl?”
Eugene, completely unapologetic, chewed as he spoke, “Meat from my omega’s bowl just tastes better.”
A chorus of boos and teasing erupted around them. Luo Hai, who couldn’t handle embarrassment, immediately raised his voice in protest. “I’m not his omega.”
His clarification was useless. Eugene lazily slung an arm around his shoulders, shamelessly leaning in. “True, we haven’t legalized our relationship yet. We should find time to take care of that.”
The teasing grew even louder, and Luo Hai’s temples throbbed.
“Alright, that’s enough. Don’t mess with him. Prosecutor Luo Hai isn’t as casual as you guys.” Dandan finally stepped in to put an end to the rowdiness.
“What a waste of a flower stuck in a pile of dung,” Xiao Lau clicked his tongue and turned to Luo Hai. “Hey, do you know what Eugene looked like when I first met him?”
“Hey—!” Eugene panicked, letting go of Luo Hai to try and stop Xiao Lau. But Xiao Lau’s mouth was too fast, firing off his words like a machine gun.
“He was wearing black fishnet stockings and a bunny girl outfit—the kind that goes all the way up to the thighs. He even had plastic bunny ears on his head and was holding a sign advertising ‘Ultra-Thin, Ultimate Smoothness’ condoms while trying to chat me up. I was this close to calling the cops on him.”
Luo Hai was stunned for a second before he couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Xiao Lau might have exaggerated, but it was absolutely something Eugene would do.
“lauren!” Eugene glared at him.
“Oh, there’s more!” The woman who had given Luo Hai the piece of meat, Li Jie, joined in. “One time, he was playing outside with Xiao Xi, and somehow, while she was perfectly fine, he managed to fall into a pile of cow dung. He smelled so bad when he came back—”
“I know, I know!” Dandan quickly swallowed her mouthful of food and eagerly joined the conversation. “Just last week, when we were in Nantes, he insisted on dressing up as a street performer to raise funds for the society. And what happened? He got hit on the head by three bottles in a row during his act. Didn’t make a single dime, and a bunch of kids stood there laughing at him for ten minutes.”
At some point, the dinner conversation had turned into a full-on “Roast the Leader of Lightwing Society” session. Eugene couldn’t stop one person without another jumping in, and eventually, he gave up, resting his chin in his hand with a defeated look, as if resigning himself to his fate.
At first, Luo Hai laughed along with them, but after a while, his attention was drawn to the television screen on the wall. The laughter around him faded into background noise.
The news was playing. On the screen, a tall, imposing Alpha woman was delivering a serious report.
“…It has now been nine hours since Oddis took hostages and disappeared from the venue. The police and prosecution office have been conducting a thorough search but have yet to uncover any information. The kidnappers have neither revealed themselves nor made any demands for ransom, leaving the fate of the trial’s presiding official, Luo Hai, uncertain. Furthermore, this incident has heightened concerns regarding the potential threat of the Lightwing Society. The Nantes Prosecutor’s Office advises all citizens to stay indoors and avoid going out at night to ensure their safety…”
Luo Hai’s frown deepened as he listened. Just then, Eugene’s voice sounded beside him.
“Don’t worry,” Eugene said in a low voice. “They’ll search within Nantes first, then move on to the nearby upper districts. By the time they even think about checking this dump of a place, we’ll have everything ready.”
Luo Hai’s expression didn’t relax. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“The old men running Nantes love their ceremonies. The worse a person is, the more they need to prove they’re righteous. That’s why they created the ‘Trial execution’—to convince all of Nantes of their justice. Now that their grand display has been disrupted, they’re waiting for the right moment to restore it. They won’t execute those Omega prisoners immediately.”
Eugene glanced at the television screen and said calmly, “As for the others who got caught up in this… we’re not gods. We can’t save everyone. That’s just how it is.”
At some point, everyone at the dining table had stopped laughing. Even the children sat quietly in their seats, staring at the television, as if they already understood—despite their young age—that what played on the screen was a terrifying hell, one that might one day become their own future.
“All right, is everyone finished eating?” Eugene clapped his hands twice, pulling everyone’s attention back to him. “Xiao Qian and Xiao Wu, clear the table. Today’s duty crew, wash the dishes. Lauren, you come with me and check on Luo Hai’s leg wound.”
Everyone moved at once, without hesitation.
It was only then that Luo Hai truly felt the weight of Eugene’s position as the leader of these hundreds of people.
Xiao Lau washed his hands, grabbed a medical kit, and gestured for Luo Hai to lift his leg.
The bandage, hastily wrapped in the van earlier, had loosened. Xiao Lau unraveled it layer by layer, revealing the blood-stained, jagged wound beneath.
“That’s brutal,” Xiao Lau clicked his tongue, carefully applying medicine to the injury. “To do this to you in front of so many people… I don’t think I could ever bring myself to be that ruthless.”
Luo Hai looked down at his wound.
The bullet wound was indeed large, but as someone familiar with firearms, he knew Eugene had already done his best to minimize the damage.
“No,” Luo Hai said quietly. “The wound looks big because the bullet only grazed me. It just tore the skin. It looks like a lot of blood, but it’ll heal quickly.”
Xiao Lau let out a low whistle and looked up at him. After a moment, he came to a conclusion.
“You really do love him.”
Luo Hai’s face grew slightly warm, but before he could speak, Eugene had already interrupted.
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Eugene smacked Xiao Lau on the back of the head and cleared his throat. “I had no choice. The situation forced my hand. I had to think of the bigger picture. What was I supposed to do? Let them shoot me dead and then let them take Luo Hai away—?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” Xiao Lau waved him off, focusing on his task. Soon, he had finished dressing Luo Hai’s wound and stood up. “No spicy food, get plenty of rest, sit more, stand less. Nothing major.”
With that, Xiao Lau picked up the medical kit and left, leaving only Luo Hai sitting in his chair and Eugene standing awkwardly beside him, his eyes darting around, unsure where to look.
Luo Hai’s lips curled into a faint smile. “Are you shy?”
“Shut up,” Eugene said curtly.
