ALSACW – Chapter 11

In the ABO era, cities had expanded dramatically. The Hall Empire consisted of five planets, each divided into just twenty-four districts. Every district was a colossal city surrounded by a few scattered satellite towns.

S-District on the Imperial Capital Star was no exception.

But even within the same city, the barriers between the upper and lower classes remained distinct. The city’s layout resembled the cross-section of a tree trunk, arranged in concentric rings. Like a tree, it channeled nutrients from the outer layers inward. The closer one got to the center, the more opulent and magnificent the scenery became.

Tang Jianxi lived in the innermost core district, while Yun Chuji resided in the university town, three rings out from the center. Of course, for a high-performance hovercar, this was hardly an arduous journey; it could be covered in just over half an hour.

But at this moment, for Tang Jianxi, who was consciously this close to an alpha for the first time in her life, the journey felt agonizingly long.

Especially since this alpha not only possessed the temperament of a well-bred lady but also her delicate nature. When Tang Jianxi wiped her face a little too roughly, the alpha would just look at her with those misty eyes. She wouldn’t say anything, just look. And as she looked, Tang Jianxi’s touch would soften.

It was maddening.

Tang Jianxi suppressed the trembling in her hands and returned to her seat, feeling increasingly bewildered by the situation.

According to the contract, I’m the master here.

Even setting the contract aside, morally speaking, Yun Chuji should be the one serving me hand and foot. How did I suddenly end up like this?

I’ve never been this gentle before!

Tang Jianxi’s scalp tingled, and a single thought dominated her mind: this alpha is toxic.

She, too, had been waited on since childhood by a retinue of ten AIs, three betas, and one omega—a level of service comparable to that of a child in the imperial palace. When had she ever done something like this?

Tang Jianxi took a deep breath, resolving to keep her distance from this alpha unless absolutely necessary.

In truth, comparing their two eras, although Yun Chuji didn’t have as large an entourage as Tang Jianxi, the degree of service she had enjoyed was far superior. While it wasn’t to the point of being spoon-fed, if Yun Chuji had ever needed someone to feed her, it would not have been out of the question.

Yes, as a woman, Yun Chuji had indeed learned all the skills of serving others, but the objects of her service were limited to her husband and in-laws, not herself.

Right, not herself.

So she accepted Tang Jianxi’s gentleness with such peace of mind, without a hint of the shyness that should exist between an alpha and an omega. In fact, she couldn’t yet grasp what the distinction between AO even meant.

When Tang Jianxi’s hand left her face, Yun Chuji didn’t even manage a timely “thank you.” It was only when she realized she had once again lost her composure in front of Miss Tang that a blush spread across her face. The garish light from the city’s billboards flooded the car, leaving her current embarrassment with nowhere to hide.

Is it because of the permanent mark I share with Miss Tang? Yun Chuji wondered. How can I let my guard down so easily in her presence? I rarely even cry in front of my own mother.

Her fingertips tightened on the hem of her clothes, and she pressed her lips together. Yun Chuji’s soft voice still carried a trace of shame. “Miss Tang, you must think me a fool. I’m not usually… not usually like this.”

Tang Jianxi was also flustered by her own unusual behavior. She waved her hand, not daring to meet Yun Chuji’s gaze. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m always this caring.”

“Oh.” The single word was uttered in a slightly lower tone.

Then, her voice lifted with renewed spirit. “Miss Tang, you’re truly a good person!”

Seeing the conversation veer in a very strange direction, Tang Jianxi felt a headache coming on. The notoriously sharp-tongued Second Miss Tang of S-District was now at a loss for words.

Fortunately, they had arrived.

Tang Jianxi got out of the car so quickly that it almost seemed like she was trying to avoid her.

The bodyguard in the front seat, who had been enjoying the show, revealed a gratified expression. He then shot the stunned alpha in the back a look that said, “You’re on your own.” The alpha in the back didn’t catch the malice behind the bodyguard’s sunglasses, but she did feel Miss Tang’s sudden aloofness—Tang Jianxi hadn’t even glanced back at her.

At that moment, she still held onto a sliver of hope: What if Miss Tang is in a hurry?

People have their urgent needs, after all.

With that thought, Yun Chuji felt much better.

Taking her luggage from the bodyguard, Yun Chuji looked at the house before her. Its lines were sharp and defined, yet it didn’t feel harsh. Through masterful aesthetic design, it presented a kind of ultimate, man-made beauty.

The parking pad was built on the left side of the house. Yun Chuji slowly entered through the side door. The owner of the house was already nowhere to be seen. Following Tang Jianxi’s earlier instructions, she went up to the second floor. Over the past few days, with the aid of the original owner’s memories, she had gradually adapted to the architectural style of this era and knew where to enter and exit. However, this didn’t mean she could know which room was hers without the owner’s specific directions.

Yun Chuji set down her luggage and walked toward the only room with a light on. She knocked first. A sound of something falling came from inside, and Tang Jianxi’s voice called out loudly, “Don’t come in.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Yun Chuji replied softly. “I just wanted to ask where my room is.”

“It’s the one to my right.”

“Okay,” Yun Chuji acknowledged.

Before turning to leave, she inexplicably added, “I wasn’t planning on coming in anyway.”

There was no reply.

But the light was still on, and the sounds from within the room continued.

So she didn’t leave in such a hurry because of an urgent need.

Yun Chuji bit her lower lip, picked up her luggage, and walked toward her room. She had the strange feeling of being used and then discarded.

Just as the original owner had thought, this world was utterly cold.

She sat on the first chair inside the door without turning on the light. Yun Chuji lowered her gaze. Having been well-versed in the ways of the world since childhood, she already understood Tang Jianxi’s meaning. It was true; they were only in a contractual relationship. Their current proximity was indeed a bit too close.

She needed to understand her place. Without the protection of her family, she was no longer the Young Miss Yun everyone sought to befriend. Now, she was nothing.

No, Yun Chuji, you’re overthinking it. Miss Tang doesn’t owe you anything. You owe her. You should put away your young lady’s temper. She has no obligation to be close to you.

But it still hurt. Yun Chuji closed the door, took a quick shower, and slipped into the unfamiliar bed. In the last second before closing her eyes, she thought, My only connection to this world, besides atonement, is simply my studies.

---

At that moment, just a wall away, Tang Jianxi was not, as Yun Chuji imagined, simply ignoring her. She was indeed busy with something—she was busy reshaping her entire worldview.

She had moved quickly, unburdened by luggage, and had arrived upstairs several minutes before Yun Chuji. Upon entering, she had locked herself in her room and sat on a chair, reflecting on how she had let her guard down so completely around Yun Chuji. As she reflected, she replayed the events of the past few days in her mind. Deleting the parts she didn’t want to dwell on, Tang Jianxi suddenly realized a crucial problem: Yun Chuji’s pheromone scent had changed.

Of course, this was common. After all, the world was full of bizarre pheromone scents. Some unlucky people had pheromones that smelled of rotten eggs, salted fish, or fermented instant noodles. To avoid losing their mating prospects, they often used pheromone perfumes. These perfumes were highly effective and were said to lose their potency only at the moment of marking. Unless the scent was truly unbearable, most people, with the arrow already on the bowstring, would just go through with it. And once marked, under the physiological attraction of pheromones, most would even come to love their partner’s scent.

Of course, although many called pheromone perfumes “scam perfumes,” it was undeniable that they were Tang Group’s best-selling product after inhibitors.

Throughout her heat, Tang Jianxi had been in a daze and hadn’t had time to think about it. After waking up, she had subconsciously attributed it to the effect of a pheromone perfume. After all, for an alpha, an orchid-scented pheromone was rather unbecoming.

Too omega-like.

But as she reviewed the events just now, Tang Jianxi noticed a discrepancy: Yun Chuji’s pheromones hadn’t changed when she marked her, but before that, when she woke up from her unconscious state.

At this thought, Tang Jianxi quickly pulled out the physical report Yun Chuji had given her. Before going to the hotel that day, they were supposed to perform a temporary marking to test their compatibility. If their compatibility was suitable, Yun Chuji would get the job. If it wasn’t, she naturally wouldn’t be able to fulfill Tang Jianxi’s requirement of finding an alpha to be her shield. The reason they didn’t go to a hospital was to avoid attracting unnecessary attention in case their compatibility was too high.

As for why she had such a concern, it was because she had already obtained Yun Chuji’s physical report, which included her pheromone identification number. She had Xie Xiaoxiao run a simulated pheromone test, and the result was over seventy-five percent—a compatibility level that would have earned them a recommendation for marriage had they tested it at a hospital.

Pheromone perfumes could be faked, but a pheromone ID number could not.

Tang Jianxi found the number and ran a search in the pheromone database. Just then, Yun Chuji knocked on the door, startling her so much that she dropped all the documents on the floor. After hastily dealing with her, the results came back.

The pheromone scent was lemongrass.

It was the exact scent she had smelled that day.

In her shock, she didn’t hear Yun Chuji’s second sentence. Her mind was consumed by a single thought—can changing one’s personality change their pheromones?

It seemed unlikely, but to be cautious, she woke Xie Xiaoxiao up in the middle of the night.

“I have a question for you.”

Xie Xiaoxiao, who had just fallen asleep, was seething. She ground her teeth. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“I’ll add another three hundred million star coins to your project budget.” Tang Jianxi knew how to strike where it hurt. For a researcher, nothing was more enticing than funding.

Sure enough, Xie Xiaoxiao immediately became sycophantic. “What question is troubling you, my dear benefactor?”

“If a person develops a new personality, will their pheromones change too?”

“There might be subtle changes, but they’re basically undetectable without professional equipment.”

“Is it possible for the pheromones to become completely different?”

Speaking on her area of expertise, Xie Xiaoxiao gave a detailed and definitive negative answer. “No, it’s not. Ultimately, a second or third personality is still a part of the primary personality. While pheromones are related to the brain, their primary origin is the innate structure of an individual’s glands. A person’s pheromones would only change drastically if their brain underwent an extremely significant alteration.”

Tang Jianxi thought for a moment. “Does getting your head smashed open and bleeding count as an extremely significant alteration?”

Xie Xiaoxiao coldly refuted this. “If it were that easy, all those alphas with foul-smelling pheromones would be lining up to bang their heads against a wall. Jianxi, bleeding isn’t enough. You’d have to knock out at least a large spoonful of brain matter.”

“Ah,” Tang Jianxi let out a soft sigh.

She wasn’t frightened by Xie Xiaoxiao’s sensational description, because she had just discovered something even more terrifying—a supernatural event.

“By the way, why are you asking me this? Did something like this happen to someone you know?”

“No, just curious. And I was thinking about the potential for further development of pheromone perfumes.”

“Tsk, you capitalists really think about making money even in the middle of the night.”

“Mmm, yes, yes, you’re right. You should get back to sleep.”

“Remember to send the money.”

“Okay, okay, goodbye!”

After hanging up, Tang Jianxi remained dazed for a long time. She looked at the wall to her right. Living there was a soul from thousands of years ago, from a dynasty long forgotten by all.

Tang Jianxi picked up the document. In the photo, the young alpha had a serene and delicate face.

This was far more thrilling than any compatibility rating over ninety percent.