IMAO Chapter 74

I have nothing to give but a double update hehe. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to those who don’t.

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Jiang Yuan splashed cold water on his face and took a deep breath. His body temperature felt slightly elevated, but Alphonse assured him it hadn’t exceeded normal human levels.

What really bothered him wasn’t his physical condition. Earlier, with so many people around, the pheromones had mixed together in the air. For some reason, his nose was unusually sensitive to them today, which shouldn’t be the case for a Beta like him.

As Jiang Yuan left the bathroom and turned the corner, someone shorter than him by about half a head crashed right into his chest.

Just his luck.

Anxious, Ansley[mfn]安塞西 – Ān sāi xī[/mfn] realized his pheromones were leaking. He just noticed that he was going into heat and was about to find a place to take his suppressants. He thought the rest area would be empty, but instead, he ran into…

This person’s height, they must be an Alpha, right?

Had they caught the scent of his pheromones?

Jiang Yuan watched as the boy who bumped into him trembled nervously like he had seen a ghost, and backed away two steps, trying to maintain a safe distance.

Jiang Yuan was puzzled. Surely he didn’t look frightening enough to warrant such a reaction?

Just then, Jiang Yuan noticed the faint Omega pheromones in the air. It was a rich floral scent. He immediately understood why the boy was acting this way. He raised both hands and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not an Alpha. I’m a Beta. I won’t do anything to you.”

“Your current condition is dangerous. Do you have suppressants with you?” Jiang Yuan asked with a frown.

“Y-yes, I do.” Ansley noticeably relaxed after Jiang Yuan’s explanation.

When he bumped into someone earlier, he was so scared. His mind was flooded with news reports about what could happen during heat.

“There’s no one inside. Go ahead.” Jiang Yuan stepped back to make way, gesturing toward the bathroom.

Just as he was about to leave, a tiny voice spoke up behind him, tinged with pleading, “Um… could you help me with something?”

“What is it?” Jiang Yuan turned back to ask.

The boy pointed at the bathroom door. “Could you please guard the door so no Alphas come in? I’ll be quick!”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll wait outside.” Jiang Yuan nodded slightly, turning to lean against the wall.

Ansley shot Jiang Yuan a grateful look. Finally, he could take his suppressants in peace. He hurried into the bathroom, calling out as he closed the door, “Wait for me, okay?”

After closing the door, Ansley took a deep breath, his heart beating fast.

That Beta was really good-looking. Seemed familiar somehow.

Just as his thoughts wandered, a gruff male voice suddenly came from outside.

“Why are you blocking my way?” The Alpha raised an eyebrow, clearly unhappy with Jiang Yuan standing in his path.

Jiang Yuan explained calmly, “There’s an Omega inside taking suppressants. Please wait a moment before entering.”

He thought the man would give up, but instead, he smirked, “Heh, let me see what kind of slut dares to go out while in heat.”

Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow and grabbed the man’s hand, enunciating each word, “I said, you’re not going in.”

“Tsk, hypocrite. Don’t you want to have some fun?” The man’s mouth twisted into a sneer. “What’s wrong with an Alpha taking an Omega in heat? It’s not illegal.”

Jiang Yuan’s face darkened at the man’s words. He knew this law. AO interactions under pheromone influence were somewhat inevitable. But hearing the man speak about it so matter-of-factly, even trying to take advantage of it, made him sick to his stomach.

As the man reached for the door, Jiang Yuan grabbed his hand. “I told you, you’re not going in.”

“Hah, who do you think you are?” The man said arrogantly. “I’m going in whether you like it or not!”

When the man reached out again, Jiang Yuan didn’t give him a chance. With one shoulder throw, he slammed the man to the ground.

“You dare hit me?” The man was stunned, clearly not expecting Jiang Yuan to get physical. Just as he tried to get up, Jiang Yuan pinned him down with one hand on his throat.

“Now shut up and stay down until they come out, or I’ll hit you again.”

The man wanted to argue, but meeting Jiang Yuan’s cold gaze, his expression changed. He believed this young man wasn’t joking. If he dared speak again, he really would get hit!

Inside the bathroom, Ansley’s heart was racing. He was almost scared to death just now… afraid that the guy outside would leave him alone…

After calming down, he quickly injected the suppressant. Once his monitor confirmed his pheromone levels had returned to normal, he finally opened the door a crack.

By now, Jiang Yuan had the man held aside like a chicken. The man cursed while pulling out his communicator, saying coldly, “Do you know who I am? You hit me. Just wait, I’m calling people right now!”

Jiang Yuan didn’t stop the man, just kept waiting for the person inside to come out.

Ansley walked out. “Thank you.”

Then Ansley looked at the man Jiang Yuan had pinned. This guy had helped him, and he couldn’t let him get in trouble. After thinking, he said to the man, “Hello, I’m Ansley. My friend only blocked your way because he was helping me…”

Although he heard the man’s threats from inside and knew he was a bad guy, nothing actually happened. Instead, this guy who helped him hit the man. Legally speaking, the guy might get in trouble for helping him.

“I’m really sorry. I can give you 100,000 star coins as compensation. Please don’t call the police.” Ansley said politely.

“100,000 star coins?” The man snorted.

“Forget 100,000 star coins. Even if you got on your knees and begged me to sleep with you, your friend is still done for. Assaulting a noble, heh…”

“Noble…” Ansley’s face changed instantly.

Under Emperor Horace’s reforms, very few people could still claim noble status in Hoyt.

“The Thornflower.” The man coldly pointed to the family crest on his clothes.

Ansley felt his whole body go cold. Although the Emperor previously uprooted an entire noble family for mistreating commoners, which made nobles wary of bullying common people, in this case, even though this man had clearly been provocative, no actual harm had been done. The Beta who helped him would definitely be in trouble!

He might even go to jail!

W-what should they do?

Jiang Yuan naturally knew nothing about the Thornflower. He just glanced at the man, then looked at the anxious Omega and asked, “Are your pheromone levels under control?”

Ansley was stunned by Jiang Yuan’s question, then nodded, “Y-yes… you…”

“That’s good then. I’m leaving.”

Just as Jiang Yuan stood to leave, the man grabbed his hand and shouted, “Who said you could leave? Stay right there!”

“Let go.” Jiang Yuan frowned. He disliked excessive physical contact with strangers.

“Scared now? Trying to run? No way!” The man stubbornly held onto Jiang Yuan’s hand, and Ji Rong happened to arrive just in time to see this.

Seeing Jiang Yuan being grabbed by someone who looked murderous, Ji Rong didn’t think twice. He rushed over and punched the man in the face, sending him flying.

“What are you doing?” Ji Rong lifted his chin, his face full of displeasure.

The man who got up from the ground now had a black eye. Seeing this, Ansley nearly fainted. It was over. This time, they punched a noble in the face…

By now, Ansley’s mind was blank. He frantically pulled out his communicator to call his family for help.

“And who are you?” The man was furious enough to spit blood. At least the other guy didn’t hit his face, but this one went straight for it. Damn!

“My friend,” Jiang Yuan said.

The man seemed triggered by Jiang Yuan’s response and sneered, “Good, you’ve got guts, kid. Even if you run, I’ll destroy you!”

Jiang Yuan ignored him and turned to Ji Rong instead. “Why are you here?”

Ji Rong: “You were gone for a while, so I came looking. What happened?”

Jiang Yuan briefly explained the situation. Ji Rong then gave a long look at the trembling Ansley, who seemed so scared he’d lost his soul. Seeing Ansley’s dazed state, he didn’t bother saying anything more.

The man, feeling completely ignored, was unhappy. He glared coldly at Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong. Hmph, they’d be crying soon enough!

A moment later, eight professionally trained bodyguards in black suits swarmed in and helped the man up.

“What are you looking at? Take care of these two brats. I won’t rest until they’re kneeling and apologizing!”

Jiang Yuan: “Is this all you’ve got?”

The man nearly had a heart attack at Jiang Yuan’s question. “You little punk are too cocky! Get them! Beat them to death!”

Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong exchanged a glance, speechless. These guys wouldn’t last two rounds against them!

Just as the man was about to sit down in a nearby chair to watch his bodyguards handle these two, he saw one of his guards collapse limply.

He watched as the young man who threw him earlier rushed to another guard, grabbed his arm, pulled, and the guard went down. Then he stepped on the fallen guard’s arm…

Damn, it looks painful just watching.
In a flash, all his so-called well-trained bodyguards were knocked flat on the ground!

The man frantically pulled out his phone. Jiang Yuan caught this scene and glanced at Ji Rong, chuckling softly, “He’s calling for backup again.”

Neither of them bothered to stop him, but after waiting a while, Jiang Yuan was stunned when he saw who arrived.

“Police?”

Jiang Yuan looked at the man beside him. He thought the guy would call for another group of bodyguards, but unexpectedly, he called the police this time.

Seeing the police was like seeing a savior to the man. He darted behind several officers in a flash, pointing at Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong. “Thank goodness you’re here! These two attacked me! And beat up my bodyguards! Arrest them!”

Jiang Yuan: “…”

On the side, Ansley didn’t feel relieved at seeing the police. Instead, his heart sank further. This meant things couldn’t be resolved peacefully anymore.

He just asked his father about this situation. In cases like these, civilians would definitely be found guilty, as there were too many angles that could be manipulated. The other side could completely deny their reasons… If that happened, the guy who helped him and his friend would be done for!

“Don’t move, you two!” The police, seeing several men scattered on the ground in various states of injury, called out excitedly.

Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong didn’t resist. After all, these were Hoyt’s police officers, and they had no reason to fight the police too.

“Come with us to the station…”

Seeing how cooperative the two were, several officers were taken aback. These two didn’t seem like unreasonable people, so why would they assault nobles?

Checking their passports, the police were startled, “Federation citizens?”

Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong: “Yeah.”

“Oh, you’re from the Federation team, right?” one officer said.

Ansley, who had been beaten earlier, snapped back to reality and looked at Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong. His mind had been in chaos earlier, so he hadn’t recognized them. Hearing the police say this, he immediately felt relieved. They were Federation citizens, and Federation team members at that. They should be fine!

The noble standing with the police noticed Ansley’s reaction and sneered, “So what if they’re foreigners? Hmph, in Hoyt, they’ll be judged by Hoyt’s laws!”

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